WEST LONG BRANCH, NJ- Monmouth University's women's lacrosse (1-0) team opened the 2021 season with a dominating 15-3 victory over Iona (0-1) on Wednesday afternoon.
 
The Hawks opened the game up with a 3-0 run over the first seven minutes, with senior Rachel Mills (Denville, NJ/Morris Catholic) getting the first Hawk goal in 365 days. From there the Hawks put the pedal to the metal as Preseason Player of the Year Nicole Ceraso (Massapequa, NY/Plainedge) and fellow senior Allison Turturro (Sound Beach, NY/Miller Place) combined for 11 of their 14 total points in the first half. Monmouth went into the break up 10-2, eventually winning 15-3.
 
Ceraso finished with eight points, including seven assists. Tuturro had six goals in the season opener, while Chloe Novak (Landsdale, PA/North Penn) and newcomer Carli Mangum (Potomoc, MD/Bullis/Florida) also scored twice. Iona's three goals came from three different players.
 
NOTES & QUOTES
 
Interim Head Coach Christie Kaestner
"It was a total team effort today, from the administrators that helped get the season going, to our players on the field to our bench, everyone contributed and it felt really good to be together.  We are really fortunate that we have a ton of experience and a ton of chemistry. They've played a lot of games together, it has been 365 days since our last game and today truly felt like we resumed after a pause and picked up where we left off."
 
Kaestner on Delliturri's performance
"Steph was dialed in, she was really seeing the ball well and she was ready to play today."
 
Ceraso and how it felt to get back out on the field
"After everything that's transpired over the course of the last year with COVID and so many uncertainties leading up to this point it felt surreal just to be back out there in our uniforms again playing together against real competition. It was a long time coming to get to this point where we can all be together competing again but we finally made it. It was amazing to be out there and especially starting the season out 1-0."
 

• Delliturri had a career-high 14 saves in the game, eclipsing her previous high of 11 against Lehigh in 2020
• The Hawks are now 6-1 all-time against Iona in women's lacrosse
• Monmouth dominated the draw 14-6, with Turturro gathering eight and Megan Hart with four
• Every field player sophomore or older played for the Hawks in the game. Mya Brock was the only freshman to play for MU against the Gaels
• It's the second time in Ceraso's career that she's tallied seven assists, one off of tying Allison Pollock's 2009 record of eight
• Ceraso recorded her 248^th point and needs just three to tie Monmouth Hall of Fame member Heather Bryant for the most all time and one to become the school's all-time leader
• Six goals was a career-high for Turturro, who now has 118 career goals which is 11^th most in school history and just two away from a tie for 10^th (Stacy Sydlo Austin) 

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• Monmouth outshot Iona 33-24
• The teams were close in groundballs 23-20 in favor of the Hawks, however they each had 12 turnovers
• Monmouth was 4-7 on free position shots, while Iona went 0-7
• Hart led the defensive effort with two caused turnovers while four players have three-plus ground balls

 
UP NEXT
Monmouth will head to Marist for a 7 PM game on Friday night. That game will air on ESPN+.