BUFFALO, NY- Monmouth University's women's lacrosse team used a balance attack and stout goalie play to snap Canisius College's 27-game regular season un-beaten streak on Sunday morning at the Demske Sports Complex.

The Hawks, who never trailed in the contest, took a 4-1 lead but found themselves tied at the end of the first half with the three-time defending champion Golden Griffins. Much like in Wednesday's game against previously unbeaten Fairfield, the Hawks dominated during parts of the second half, outscoring the Griffs 8-6 in the final 30 minutes.

Alexa Smith (Westhampton Beach, NY/Westhampton Beach) and sophomore Chloe Novak (Landsdale, PA/North Penn) scored back to back markers in the first six minutes of the final frame to take a 8-6 lead but it took Canisius less than two minutes to knot it up again. Novak's second of the game recaptured the lead for the Hawks with 20:51 left then Jenny Staines (Silver Spring, MD/Good Counsel) followed up with her first goal of the game to put MU ahead 10-8. Canisius would close to 10-9 and then 11-9 on Jen Reininger goals but would get no closer. The Hawks launched a three-goal run from 9:14 to 7:24 to pull ahead 14-10 with time running out on the Griffs. Canisius scored twice in the final four minutes, including their last with 51 seconds left to cut the lead to 14-12 but senior Caroline Corbliss (Ellicott City, MD/Marriotts Ridge) won the ensuing draw and the Hawks ran out time.

Monmouth sprinted ahead with a 4-1 lead before the Griffs tallied three straight to tie the game up at 4-4. The Hawks regained the lead on a Claudia LaMarca (West Long Branch, NJ/Shore Regional) but Canisius matched that goal at the 9:45 mark. The teams traded goals in the final nine minutes with MU netminder Riley Brager (Reisterstown, MD/Roland Park Country) making six saves in the first half between the pipes for the Hawks.
 
QUOTES & NOTES
Monmouth Head Coach Jordan Trautman on the win
"I'm so excited for our team and specifically the seniors for our win today. It was a complete team effort from bench to cage and was led by the leadership and toughness of our seniors."
 
Trautman on the balanced attack
"Our attack did a great job trusting each other today and playing confidently even when we made some mistakes. I also think everyone stepped to the challenge and just played."
 
On the play of goalie Riley Brager
"Riley had another hugely consistent day today. She made a really important save at the end of the game which really clinched the outcome."
 

• The win was the first over the Griffs for the Hawks, who were 0-7 against Canisius coming into the game
• The two teams had met in the 2016 MAAC Championship at Demske Sports Complex, the last time MU played at the Buffalo facility
• The last time Canisius lost a regular-season conference game was on April 26, 2014, an 11-9 setback to Fairfield at home
• Smith, Corbliss and Novak each recorded hat tricks in the game, it was Novak's first
• Sophomore defender Megan Hart had a career-high 10 draw controls in the contest
• Monmouth is now 4-1 in games in which they score 14 goals or more
• Alexa Smith recorded eight total goals this week and ran her consecutive games with a goal total up to 19 consecutive games
• Smith has 111 career goals, two away from cracking the top-10 all-time at MU
•  Nicole Ceraso recorded her 23^rd assist of the season, moving her into a tied for 12^th all-time in single season records with Kaleigh Gibbons (2012)
• She now has 53 career assists, 10^th all-time at Monmouth and just one away from ninth

 
NUMBERS CRUNCH

• The Hawks held a 31-26 advantage in shots
• MU committed 16 turnovers compared to 14 for the Griffs but just six in the second half
• The Hawks held a 15-13 advantage in draw controls
• Monmouth was 5-of-11 on free position attempts while Canisius was 4-of-8
• The win marked the first back to back victories of the year for the Hawks
• Griff Jourdan Roemer led all scorers with five goals while Jen Reininger had four
• Canisius netminder Rebecca VanLaeken had 10 saves in net

UP NEXT
Monmouth will be home against Niagara next Saturday at 12 PM at Kessler Stadium. That game will air on ESPN3.