BUFFALO, N.Y.- Monmouth University women's lacrosse team fell 8-7 to Fairfield in the 2015 MAAC Tournament Semifinals on Friday afternoon, ending the Hawks' season.
After trailing the entire game, Monmouth junior Marial Pierce (Middleburg, Va./St. John's Catholic Prep) scored with 4:29 left on a free position shot to even the score at 7-7. Operating in a man up situation, Fairfield sophomore Riley Hellstein scored with 3:38 remaining to put the Stags ahead by one. Monmouth had two opportunities in the final 40 seconds to tie it but couldn't get the equalizer.
Two things hurt us today, giving them the bulk of possessions in the first half hurt us,” said Monmouth Head Coach Denise Wescott. “The other stat that we really lost on big was draw control. I can't ask for anymore of our team in the second half. They played with such heart, they played hard and they played to win. I thought we did enough to win in the second half but it's a shame the scoreboard was in the wrong direction. I was proud of how hard they fought.”
The Stags added to their three goal halftime lead with a pair of goals in the first 2:30 to take a 5-0 lead over the Hawks. Monmouth then stormed back, with Claudia LaMarca (West Long Branch, N.J./Shore Regional) and Pierce scoring back to back goals. After Hellstein gave her squad a four goal lead, Monmouth scored three unanswered goals to close to within one. Fairfield's Julieanne Mascera answered before Olivia Higson (Cheadle Hulme, England/Withington Girl's School) tied it again with 4:40 remaining. Eleven seconds later Pierce scored the equalizer before Hellstein's equalizer.
Fairfield controlled the action in the first half, registering nine of the 10 shots on goal. Donohoe kept the Hawks in the game with six saves. After fifteen scoreless minutes Stag Jenna Fuchs took a pass from Maeve Quinn for the game's first goal. Four minutes later the Stags took a 2-0 lead and Hellstein finished the first half scoring with 6:53 remaining on a feed from Alex Fehmel.
Monmouth goalie Katie Donohoe (Peterborough, Ontario/Holy Cross Catholic Secondary) had eight saves in the game. Pierce finished with three goals, while Higson and LaMarca each had two. Pierce and Kristina Vangeli (Hillsborough, N.J./Hillsborough) had three caused turnovers each.
Fairfield committed 18 turnovers in the contest but Monmouth was whistled for 31 fouls, more than double the Stags. Fairfield also dominated the draw circle, winning 12 of the 17.
