WEST LONG BRANCH, NJ- Monmouth University's women's lacrosse team (8-5, 4-0 MAAC) remained unbeated in league play with a wire-to-wire defeat of rival Quinnipiac (2-9, 0-4 MAAC) in a driving rain on Saturday.

The Hawks took a lead just 39 seconds into the contest and never trailed in the nine goal victory. Monmouth is now tied atop the league standings with a 4-0 record, heading into Wednesday's pivotal matchup with Fairfield.

"We wanted to start today with al ot of energy because it's a conference game and we are at home for senior day," said Monmouth Head Coach Eileen Ghent. "We wanted to come out with high energy and finish on our shorts, which allowed us to explor more options later in the game. Our defense has done a such a good job each game, focusing in on shutting down more than one player with help defense."

Senior attacker Marial Pierce (Middleburg, VA/St. John's Catholic Prep) filled the stat sheet with five points on three goals and two assists while earning six ground balls, four caused turnovers and five draw controls. Sophomore Alexa Smith (Westhampton Beach, NY/Westhampton Beach) had five goals in the game- the fourth game this season in which she has scored five times. Sophomore Caroline Corbliss also had five points on a trio of goals and two helpers, leadin the team in draws with six.

The Hawks sprinted out to a 4-1 lead on goals from Olvia Higson (Cheadle Hulme, Endgland/Withington Girls' Schol) Smith and Pierce. Quinnipiac cut the lead to 5-2 with 8:50 to play but Corbliss tallied back to back goals over a 1:03 span and Monmouth lead 7-2.  Freshman Jenny Staines (Silver Spring, MD/Good Counsel) scored back to back goals within 13 seconds of each other with time winding down in the first half as Monmouth took a 10-3 lead into the break.

The teams traded goals over the first 10 minutes of the second half before Pierce tallied consecutive goals to give Monmouth a 14-5 lead with 4:55 to play. Quinnipiac's Ellie Swenson scored at the 3:12 mark before Hawk senior Molly Arnette (Monmouth Beach, NJ/Shore Regional) finish the scoring with a late goal to give Monmouth their fourth straight victory.

Quinnipiac's Loren Antonacci had two goals for the Bobcats while goalie Jyle Larkin finished with five saves.

Senior goalie Caroline Huelster (Mount Laurel, NJ/Lenape) had four saves in 54:10 of work. Monmouth dominated draw controls 18-5 and shots (37-14). The Hawks were nine-of-11 in clears while Quinnipiac was 12-of-20 while committing 18 turnovers in the setback.

"All of our seniors have done such a great job, they all bring something to the table," said Ghent. "Coach Wescott (Former Monmouth head Coach Denise Wescott) recruited them all, I was able to take over with them in leadership positions and I want to give her credit for bringing them here. The seniors have done a great job of evolving as leaders to bring our team where we want to be."

The Hawks and Stags will meet at 3 PM at Monmouth Stadium on Wednesday in a game that is set to air on ESPN3.