WEST LONG BRANCH, NJ- Monmouth University's women's lacrosse team (8-9, 6-2 MAAC) earned a share of the 2018 MAAC Regular Season Championship and picked up a top-four seed in the upcoming Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Tournament with a 16-11 dismissal of Iona College (8-9, 3-5 MAAC) on Wednesday at Kessler Stadium

The Hawks were led by senior Alexa Smith (Westhampton Beach, NY/Westhampton Beach) who set a season-high in points with seven, while tying her career best in goals with six. Reigning MAAC Offensive Player of the Week Jenny Staines (Silver Spring, MD/Good Counsel) recorded six points with a trio of goals and three assists.

Monmouth took a 4-3 with 17:44 left in the first half on an Allison Turturro (Sound Beach, NY/Miller Place) goal and never looked back, although Iona's Pamela Giordano tallied back to back goals to briefly tie it up with 6:02 left.  It was Turturro's laser of a free position goal with .3 left in the first half that gave the Hawks a 9-7 lead heading into halftime and ultimately broke the Gaels. Monmouth used four straight goals in the second half to build a 13-8 lead, ultimately ballooning to 16-9 before Iona's Kaitlyn Becker tallied two goals to finish off the scoring at 16-11.

The Monmouth defense, led by senior Mackenzie Rendich's (San Roman, CA/California) two caused turnovers forced Iona into going just 13-of-19 on clear attempts. Riley Brager (Reisterstown, MD/Roland Park Country) was solid in net for the Hawks, recording 10 saves including a pair of clutch stops in man-down situations.

NOTES AND QUOTES

"The only thing we could control was this game and we did everything we could do today to put ourselves in the best place as far as seeding. I'm just really proud of what we accomplished today." Monmouth Head Coach Jordan Trautman

"I think the offense keeps working that chemistry and they get the trust going. Everyone is doing their job." Trautman on having seven different players tally goals

"It feels incredible, we just came out and controlled what we can control. We did exactly what we have practiced. Knowing that this could potentially be the last time playing on this field, I just went out with a bang." Senior Alexa Smith

• The Hawks improve to 6-1 all-time against Iona
• Smith now has 123 career goals, tying her with Rachel Feirstein (2008-2011) for eighth most in school history
• Six of Smith's eight goals found the back of the net. She leads the Hawks with 44 goals, needing just two to crack the single season top-10 at MU
• The Hawks finished the record season 8-9 and 6-2 in the MAAC, earning their 20^th conference postseason berth (in 21 attempts)
• Sophomore Nicole Ceraso had four assists in the contest and a total of five points. She now has 36 on the season which is second most in school history. She trails only Jeanette Stott who had 41 in 2006
• Ceraso has now recorded 66 assists in two seasons, moving her past Heather Bryan (1998-2001) and Jess Salvesen (1998-2001) into fifth all-time for the Blue & White
• Through 17 games Riley Brager has 161 saves which is ninth most for a single season. Brager's 313 career saves ties her with Meghan Pflumm (1997-98) for fifth most in the MU annals

NUMBERS CRUNCH

• Monmouth was 5-of-10 on free position attempts
• The teams each had 17 turnovers and 21 ground balls
• Monmouth held a 15-13 advantage in draw controls, with Turturro leading MU with five
• The Hawks held a 34-26 advantage in shots
• Jenny Staines' 24 assists is tied for 11^th most in a single season at MU
• Becker finished with three goals and one assists while the Hawks held Giordano, Iona's leading scorer to just two goals on five shots
   

UP NEXT
Monmouth has to wait to find out it's opponent and seeding position in the upcoming MAAC Tournament until all of tonight's games are completed.