Box Score NEWARK, DEL- Monmouth University's women's lacrosse team (4-4) rallied twice against Delaware (7-1) but eventually fell to the Blue Hens 14-11 on Saturday afternoon.
Monmouth outscored Delaware 6-4 in the final 30 minutes of play but a late first half run was too much for the Hawks to overcome.
"Having the focus and drive to come back after being down a few goals proves a lot about this team,” said first year head coach Eileen Ghent. “Everyone was willing to do what we needed them to do plus more. Delaware's speed gave us trouble particularly in transition, but with some adjustments we were able to improve. Although the scoreboard doesn't reflect it, that was one of our better performances. We battled for 60 minutes and showed what we're capable of."
Twice Monmouth answered Blue Hen goal runs with ones of their own closing to within one, including late in the game when Olivia Higson's (Cheadle Hulme, England/Withington Girls' School) unassisted marker made the game 10-9 with 13:40 left. Delaware answered with an unanswered three-goal barrage from 8:35 to 4:40 that seem to put the game out of reach. Monmouth had other ideas for the Blue Hens, who were receiving votes in the latest IWLCA Poll, with a pair of goals from sophomore Alexa Smith (West Hampton Beach, NY/Westhampton Beach) that cut the UD lead to 13-11 with 1:51 left. However, Monmouth was unable to close the gap further with Casey Lyons scoring her fifth goal of the game with four seconds left to give Delaware the 14-11 win.
Delaware, whose only loss on the season was to 16th ranked Penn, jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first 10 minutes before Higson got the Hawks on track with 17:09 to play. Marial Pierce (Middleburg, VA/St. John's Catholic Prep) and Smith each tallied goals to cut the lead to 4-3 with 11:19 left in the first. After the teams traded goals, Delaware went on a 5-1 run to close out the half, taking a 10-5 lead into the break.
Smith and Higson each tallied a hat trick while Pierce had two goals and an assist for three points. Sophomore Amanda Miller (Marriottsville, MD/Marriotts Ridge) led the Hawks with three ground balls. Goaltender Caroline Huelster (Mount Laurel, NJ/Lenape) made 13 saves in the contest.
Delaware held a 34-20 advantage in shots while committing nine less turnovers than the Hawks (15-6). Monmouth was 4-of-7 on free position shots while Delaware was 3-of-11. Lyons finished with seven points in the contest while Shannon Hawley had three goals and an assist. Delaware's defense was credited with 12 caused turnovers as goalie Taylor Carpentier had five saves between the pipes.
Monmouth will wrap up the non-conference portion of its schedule on Wednesday, when New Hampshire comes to Monmouth Stadium for a 3 PM match.
