EASTON, Pa.- Monmouth University women's lacrosse team (2-1) overcame a three-goal halftime deficit to defeat Lafayette College (1-1) 13-9 on Saturday night at Fisher Stadium.

The Hawks outscored Lafayette 9-2 in the second half, while the MU defense kept Lafayette off the board for the final 15:04 of the game. Sophomore Alexa Smith (Westhampton Beach, NY/Westhampton Beach) had a breakout performance with four goals in the contest, two of which came in the final frame. Senior netminder Caroline Huelster (Mt. Laurel, NJ/Lenape) registered a career-high 10 saves for the Hawks, while collecting four ground balls.

“Getting our first road win of the season is incredibly important,” said Monmouth Head Coach Eileen Ghent. “Lafayette is a very talented team and I am proud of how this team reacted in the second half to come out on top.”

Trailing 7-4 at the start of the second half, Smith started the comeback at the 24:32 mark on a feed from senior Marial Pierce (Middleburg, Va./St. John's Catholic Prep). Junior Ashley Cross (Great Falls, Va./Bishop O'Connell) cut the lead to 7-6 five minutes later before the Leopards scored back to back goals to keep the lead at three, 9-6 with 15:04 remaining. It would be the last goal that Huestler and the defense would allow, as Monmouth exploded for seven unanswered goals over the final 14:15.

Sophomore Kate Ryan (Morton, Pa./Springfield) tallied two consecutive goals, cutting the LC lead to 9-8 with 11:44 to play. Cross found junior Carly Sane (Clifton, Va./Centreville) in front of the net for the game-tying goal just 42 seconds later then put the Hawks ahead 10-9 on her second goal of the game with 5:33 to play. Monmouth defense created a number of turnovers over the last five minutes, allowing Sane, Smith and Michelle Gonzales (Marlton, NJ/Cherokee) to tally insurance goals and give Monmouth the 13-9 victory.

Monmouth's Olivia Higson (Cheadle Hulme, England/Withington Girls' School) struck first just 44 seconds into the match but Lafayette's Kirsten Wilhelmsen and Emma Novick tallied a pair of goals to give LC a 2-1 lead. Gonzales and Smith found the back of the cage to regain the lead for Monmouth 3-2 with 18:00 left in the first half but Lafayette went on a 5-0 run over a 12 minute span to take a commanding 7-3. Smith stopped the Hawk draught, notching her second goal with 3:39 and the score at the half rested at 7-4.

Smith led all scorers with four goals, while Ryan, Cross, Pierce and Sane all had three points for Monmouth. Pierce filling up the stat card with four draws and two caused turnovers added to her trio of assists. Caroline Corbliss (Marriottsville, MD/Marriotts Ridge) had a career-high seven draw controls for the Hawks, who won 15 of the 24 draw opportunities. Defensively, Kristina Vangeli (Hillsborough, NJ/Hillsborough) had four ground balls, three caused turnovers and four draw controls for the Blue & White.

“Our defense remains to be the anchor of our team, giving us tremendous momentum after holding Lafayette scoreless for 15 minutes,” said Ghent. “Caroline Corbliss was instrumental in us getting the draw and possession in the second half.” 

Novick led the Leopards with three goals and an assist while Wilhelmsen had two goals and an assist. Lafayette goaltender Anna Raymond had 10 saves in the game as Monmouth outshot LC 28-24 including 17-9 in the final 30 minutes. Monmouth committed 19 turnovers to Lafayette's 14, but only had eight in the second half.

Monmouth is back on the field on Wednesday, February 24 when they head to Philadelphia to face Saint Joseph's at 4 PM.