WEST LONG BRANCH, NJ- Monmouth University's women's lacrosse team suffered it first conference loss on Saturday afternoon, falling 19-6 to defending regular season champion Canisius College at the Demske Sports Complex.

Erica Evans (8) and Taylor Giglio (6) combined for 14 of the Griffs' 19 goals while Tessa Chad added three. Canisius outshot Monmouth 32-24 while Golden Griffin goaltender Rebecca VanLaeken made eight saves in the win.

Senior Marial Pierce (Middleburg, Va./St. John's Catholic Prep) had five points on two goals and three assists to lead the Hawks. Michelle Gonzales (Marlton, NJ/Cherokee) had a pair of goals for Monmouth, which had two goalies combine for five saves.

The stat sheet was even between the two, with each team committing nine turnovers and Canisius owning a slight 13-12 advantage in draws.

Canisius opened up the game with four goals over the first 5:18 before Gonzales stopped the bleeding on a feed from Pierce. Canisius kept its foot on the gas, scoring the next six goals to take a 10-1 lead before Kate Ryan (Morton, Pa./Springfield) got one back with 5:05 to play in the first half. Giglio scored the final goal of the half and Monmouth felt itself back 11-2 at the break.

MU got some momentum back early in the second with Pierce and freshman Jenny Staines (Silver Spring, MD/Good Counsel) tallying three of the period's first five goals to cut the Canisius lead to 13-5. It was all Golden Griffins from there on out, as the home team scored the next six goals over a 10 minute period to solidify the win. Staines fed Gonzales with 3:45 remaining to finish the day's scoring.

Monmouth will have a week off before they return to face Marist in Poughkeepsie next Saturday at 1 PM.