LEWISTON, NY – Monmouth University's (7-3, 1-0 MAAC)) women's lacrosse team scored five unanswered goals to come from behind and down Niagara University (3-6, 0-1 MAAC) 13-12 on Saturday in New York.
 
Sophomore Allison Stofregen (Ellicott City, MD/Notre Dame Prep) shot from the far-left wing with 2:35 left beat the NU goaltender and put the Hawks ahead 13-12. Stofregen scored a career-high four goals on the day, while the Hawks also got four goals from sophomore Caroline Bleck (Farmingdale, NY/Farmingdale) and a hat trick from senior Jenny Staines (Silver Spring, MD/Good Council) in the win.
 
Niagara scored six unanswered goals spanning the final five minutes of the first half to the first eight minutes of the second half to take a 10-6 lead. The two teams traded goals and NU led 12-8 with 17:02 remaining before the Hawks launched their attack. With 13:09 left Staines scored to cut the lead to 12-9 which was followed up four minutes later with a Nicole Ceraso (Massapequa, NY/Plainedge) goal. With 5:18 left Stofregen scored on a free position shot and 15 seconds later Bleck scored her fourth to tie it up at 12:12. Stofregen scored the game-winner with 2:35 and after the Purple Eagles took control with just over a minute to play, senior Monica Cortes (Miller Place, NY/Miller Place) forced a turnover and the Hawks were able to run out the clock.
 
Monmouth took a 6-4 lead with just under 10 minutes to go in the first half on Allison Stofregen's (Ellicott City, MD/Notre Dame Prep) second goal of the game but the Purple Eagles scored three unanswered goals in the final 5:03, including two from Hailey D'Hont to take a one-goal lead into the break.
 
NOTES & QUOTES
"Today was such a great way to start conference play. It was 60 tough, gritty, hard minutes of play and we fought through every minute to get the win. We had some incredible play from sophomores Bleck and Stofregen who were due for a big game and to have them show up and produce the way they did today was crucial to our offensive success." Monmouth Head Coach Jordan Trautman
 

• The Hawks are now 7-3 on the season and have won three consecutive contests and four out of their last five
• The win snapped a three-game losing streak for the Hawks against Niagara
• Monmouth now owns a 5-4 advantage in the series with the Purple Eagles
• Prior to the game against the Purple Eagles Stofregen had not scored more than one goal in a contest
• Bleck matched her career-high with four goals, tying her effort from earlier this season against Sacred Heart
• Cortes finished the week with 11 ground balls and six caused turnovers in two MU wins
• Riley Brager made 11 saves in net for the Hawks, the sixth game with double-digit saves this season

NUMBERS CRUNCH

• Monmouth won 15 of the 26 total draws in the game
• Stofregen was four-for-four on shots
• Monmouth committed 15 turnovers in the contest, compared to just nine for Niagara
• Shots were nearly even, 32-28 in favor of the Purple Eagles
• D'Hont led Niagara with four goals while All-Region selection Rachel MacCheyne had three goals
• Caroline Crump finished with six points on two goals and four assists

UP NEXT
Monmouth is back on the road on Wednesday against Iona. The 3 PM game will air on ESPN3.