WEST LONG BRANCH, NJ- Monmouth University's (0-1) women's lacrosse team opened up the season with a 12-9 setback to Army West Point (1-0) on Saturday at Kessler Stadium.
 
Monmouth struck first with preseason all-league selection Nicole Ceraso (Massapequa, NY/Plainedge) tallying a free position goal just 3:03 into the game. Army took the lead back plus some with a four-goal run over a seven minute period before the Hawks could cut it to 4-2 with 14:46 to play. Army pushed their lead to 5-2 on Manuela Cortes' second of four goals, before senior Alexa Smith (Westhampton Beach, NY/Westhampton Beach) scored a pair of late goals to close the halftime gap to 5-4.
 
Monmouth tied it up 5-5 early in the second half with freshman Allison Stofregen's (Ellicott City, MD/Notre Dame Prep) first collegiate goal but Army answered with two more. Senior Claudia LaMarca (West Long Branch, NJ/Shore Regional) got the Hawks to within one at 7-6 but the Black Knights scored four of the next five goals, all on free position attempts. With an 11-7 lead and just under six minutes to play, the Hawks scored a pair of goals but couldn't close the deficit all the way, eventually falling 12-9.
 
NOTES AND QUOTES
Head Coach Jordan Trautman
"Today was difficult because all of the [positive] things we've been doing all preseason, we didn't do today. I think nerves played a role in that, we need to just come back and continue to work hard. We had some players who hadn't had a lot of game experience, either because they were younger players or are freshmen, really step up today and play with confidence."

Trautman on the play of junior goalie Riley Brager
"I thought Riley had a great game. She really kept us in the game during points in the game where we could have gone down a lot more. She really stepped up and held the defense together and made some big saves in some crucial moments to keep us going.
 

• The game was the first under Head Coach Jordan Trautman, who was named Monmouth's sixth head coach in July.
• Monmouth was selected fifth in the 2018 MAAC Preseason Poll, while Army West Point was chosen eighth in the Patriot League Preseason Poll.
• Junior goalie Riley Brager had 10 saves in the game, including six in the first half.
• Manuela Cortes had four goals off the bench for Army to lead all scorers
• Monmouth had three players tally two goals while junior Logan Smet was the lone Hawk with multiple assists

NUMBERS CRUNCH

• There were eight cards in the contest
• Army outshot Monmouth 31-26
• The Black Knights also held a 13-10 advantage on draw controls
• Army scored half of their goals on free position attempts while Monmouth was just 2-for-8 from eight meters out
• Monmouth had 14 turnovers while Army finished with 13

UP NEXT
Monmouth will return to Kessler Stadium for its second of five straight home matches, facing Temple at 3 PM on Wednesday.