WEST LONG BRANCH, NJ- Monmouth University's (0-3) women's lacrosse team couldn't contain a constant attack from in-state rival Rutgers (2-1) on Saturday afternoon, eventually falling to the Scarlet Knights by a 19-8 margin.
 
Rutgers jumped out to a 9-3 hafltime lead, spurred on a by a five-goal run over a four minute period. The Scarlet Knights then scored another five unanswered early in the second half to take a 14-4 lead before sophomore Chloe Novak (Landsdale, PA/North Penn) tallied her first goal of the season to get the Hawks within nine.  Monmouth would add four more goals in the final 14 minutes but couldn't keep pace with the Scarlett Knights who eventually won by 11.
 
NOTES & QUOTES
Head Coach Jordan Trautman
"We are having a lot of trouble translating our practices into games. We need to compete all the time, regardless of who we are competing against. Once we translate the competitiveness we see in practice into games we will see success.

• Nicole Ceraso and Alexa Smith scored for the third consecutive game, the only Hawks to score in all three games this season
• The Hawks are now 2-13 all-time against Rutgers, with today's 11 point loss the worse to the Scarlet Knights since 2010's 12 goal setback (18-6)
• Freshman defender Meghan Smith made her first career start for the Hawks
• Monmouth's next opponent, George Mason, has not played a contest yet in 2018

NUMBERS CRUNCH

• Rutger's Samantha Budd led all scorers with six goals and one assist
• Rutgers outshot Monmouth 35-17 and held a 20-11 advantage in ground balls
• Monmouth turned the ball over 19 times, compared to 13 for RU
• The Hawks were 5-for-8 on free position attempts while Rutgers went 3-of-9
• Claudia LaMarca had a pair of goals to lead the Hawks
• Jenny Staines recorded a goal and a pair of assists
• Riley Brager finished with eight saves- including seven in the first half

UP NEXT
The Hawks continued their five-game home stand, hosting George Mason on Wednesday at 3 PM.