WEST LONG BRANCH, NJ- Monmouth University's (3-3) women's lacrosse team used a dominating first half performance to record a 14-7 win over George Washington University (0-4) in the teams' first meeting on Saturday.
The Hawks scored a season high 14 goals and allowed a season low seven goals in the win which moved the team to 2-0 at Monmouth Stadium. Sophomore Alexa Smith (West Hampton Beach, NY/Westhampton Beach High School) scored a career-high five goals while senior netminder Caroline Huelster (Mount Laurel, NJ/Lenape) registered a career-high 12 saves in the win. Monmouth raced out to a 6-1 halftime lead, spurred on by a natural hat trick scored by junior Olivia Higson (Cheadle Hulme, England/Withington Girls School) in the first 10 minutes of the game.
"We were able to execute the game plan today," said Monmouth Head Coach Eileen Ghent. "Everyone on the team was on the same page and willing to do anything for the team's success. We still need to work on controlling the draw, but we were able to excel in other areas on the field to make up for it."
Higson picked up where she left off in the first, scoring her fourth just 27 seconds into the second half. GW answered with a pair of goals at the 27:43 mark and the 24:40 mark to cut the Monmouth lead to 7-3. The teams traded goals before the Hawks launched a three goal barrage, with Smith scoring twice and Kate Ryan (Morton, Pa./Springfield) adding her 11th of the year to give Monmouth an 11-4 lead with 12:44 remaining. The Colonials scored three goals in a 2:19 span to close to 11-7 but Monmouth wrapped up the game with three more markers, giving the Hawks the 14-7 victory.
Monmouth came out firing in the first half, with Higson scoring her first of three of three unassisted markers with 28:29 to play. Higson netted two more over the next eight minutes before Caroline Corbliss (Marriottsville, Md./Marriotts Ridge) put MU up 4-0 with 19:53 left in the first half. Smith tallied a pair of goals over three minutes to put Monmouth up 6-0. George Washington's Jocelyn Donohue broke the run for the Colonials with 2:26 left and the Hawks led 6-1 at the break. Huelster made five saves in the first half for MU.
Michelle Gonzales had five points in the win, scoring once and assisting on four other goals. Nicole Duca (Doylestown, Pa./Archbishop Wood) had three caused turnovers on defense while Kristina Vangeli (Hillsborough, NJ/Hillsborough) had three ground balls and draw controls in the win. Higson finished with five points as well, scoring four goals and assisting on another.
"Caroline anchored a strong defense today which often started our fast breaks and possessions," said Ghent. "Michelle handled the ball well and proved to be a great leader on attack. We had lots of contributors and having half of our goals be assisted is tremendous. I'm excited to see Alexa and Olivia find the back of the net so frequently, they both had great weeks at practice."
MU outshot GWU 30-23 and 22-19 in shots on goal. George Washington held a 12-11 advantage in draws and committed 14 turnovers compared to 17 for the Hawks. Dohonoe led the Colonials with three goals while Michaela Lynch scored twice for the visitors. GWU employed two goalies in the game, which combined for eight saves.
The Hawks are out in Lewisburg, Pa. for their next tilt, facing Bucknell University at 4 PM on March 9.
