Hartford (2-4-2) –  1
Monmouth (3-4-1) – 3
 
WEST LONG BRANCH, NJ – In its last contest before Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference play, the Monmouth University men's soccer team used two goals from midfielder Colin Stripling to overwhelm Hartford on Wednesday night, 3-1. The redshirt senior's first tally hit the bottom of the crossbar and into the back of the net in the 53^rd minute to make it 2-0. Sophomore George Akampeke played it long and sophomore Andy Martinez popped the ball up in the air inside the 18, where Stripling collected it. In the 89^th minute, Stripling took the pass from freshman Dan Frisch-Harmon and placed it in the top left corner to seal the win, 3-1. Redshirt freshman John Antunes opened the scoring in the 15^th minute to put Monmouth up 1-0, as his rocket shot found the top right of the net. Freshman Santo Arena made his first career start and assisted on Antunes' goal. Monmouth improves to 3-4-1 on the season and will travel to Rider next Wednesday to open MAAC play.
 
NOTES AND QUOTES
"I saw a lot of resilience tonight. Hartford came out and kind of gave it to us a little bit in the second half, but my guys were really resilient, stayed strong, and got the just result in the end I think. We played some really difficult non-conference games, and to get this result heading into the conference is good for their psyche."   – Head Coach Rob McCourt
"We had a lot of energy and a lot of effort from our team, and we need this one. It just puts us on the right foot going into conference play." – Midfielder Colin Stripling
-Just 14:01 into the contest, Arena dished the pass to spring Antunes forward, and the redshirt freshman did the rest, dribbling down the center of the field and ripping a shot to the right upper 90 to give Monmouth the 1-0 lead.
-Just after halftime in the 53^rd minute, Stripling gathered a loose ball inside the box and dinged it under the crossbar to give Monmouth the two-goal advantage.
-Hartford got one back in the 59^th minute, as Alexis Triadis buried the free kick inside the top right from 19 yards out.
-The score remained 2-1 until the 89^th minute, when Stripling received the pass from Frisch-Harmon inside the box and placed it inside the far left post to put the game out of reach.  

NUMBERS CRUNCH
-Stripling's two goals on the night gives him three on the season. He previously scored the game-winning diving header in the season opener against Georgia Southern.
-Antunes came into the game leading the team in shots, and scored his first goal of the season to go along with two assists this year.
-In his first career start, Arena recorded his second assist in as many games.
-Junior goalkeeper Bobby Edwards made three saves in the win, and now has 31 saves in eight games.
-Frisch-Harmon dished his second assist of the season, with the first also coming in a home game (September 1 versus Penn).

UP NEXT
Monmouth will begin conference play next Wednesday, September 27 when it travels to Rider. Kickoff is slated for 7:00 PM.