Siena Saints (4-7-0, 1-2-0 MAAC) – 1
Monmouth Hawks (1-8-1, 1-2-0 MAAC) – 2
 
WEST LONG BRANCH, NJ  – Behind a first half goal from freshman Ben Zakowski (Glen Rock, NJ/Glen Rock) and a second half goal from junior Santo Arena (Holmdel, NJ/Holmdel), the Monmouth University men's soccer team defeated Siena on Wednesday night, 2-1.
 
In the 40^th minute, junior Pablo Fonseca (San Jose, Costa Rica/Saint Clare) played a ball to Arena up the right sideline. Arena settled it and played a perfect long cross to the head of Zakowski. In the 69^th minute, Arena gathered a rebound, made a move to his right, and sent a ball to the upper left corner for the 2-0 lead.
 
Siena added a late goal in the 85^th minute, but the Hawks were able to hold on in the final minutes. Redshirt sophomore goalkeeper Sean Murray (Fanwood, NJ/Scotch Plains-Fanwood) made six saves in the win.
 
Monmouth is now 1-8-1 (1-2 MAAC) on the season, and will look for another win at Rider on Saturday night.
 
NOTES AND QUOTES
 
"We've got a lot of young guys and some new guys that are starting for us, and we haven't been able to get over the hurdle. We finally got one tonight, so it feels good. Hopefully we can build on this." - Monmouth head coach Robert McCourt
 
-Siena registered the first two shots on goal in the first 16 minutes, but both were saved by Murray.
-In the 40^th minute, Fonseca played a long ball from Monmouth territory down the right sideline. Arena trapped the pass perfectly, took a couple of dribbles, and launched a perfect cross to the far post, where Zakowski headed it home.
-Just before halftime, Siena's leading goal scorer Alejandro Riquelme sent a shot towards goal, but Murray came up with the save. At halftime, Monmouth led 1-0.
-In the 53^rd minute, the Saints had a shot from inside the six, but Murray dove to his right to make the stop.
-Arena made it 2-0 shortly after. The junior gathered a rebound outside of the 18, made a defender miss, and sent a rocket to the upper left corner.
-After a scramble in the box, Siena cut the deficit to 2-1 with a goal in the 85^th minute.
-The Monmouth defense battled for the final five minutes to seal the win.
 
NUMBERS CRUNCH
-Arena scored his second career goal to go along with his third career assist.
-Zakowski scored his first career goal on his ninth shot of the season.
-Fonseca now ranks second on the team with three points (one goal, one assist).
-Murray has compiled 129 saves in 27 career games.
-Redshirt junior John Antunes added two shots in the win.
 
UP NEXT
Monmouth will travel to Rider for a 7:00 PM matchup on Saturday.