WEST LONG BRANCH, NJ- Monmouth University's (4-2, 4-2 MAAC) women's lacrosse team edged out Quinnipiac (3-4, 3-4 MAAC) 12-11 with late-game heroics by seniors Caroline Bleck and Steph Delliturri.
 
Bleck scored her fifth goal of the contest with 3:35 remaining to break a 12-12 tie and give the Hawks a one-goal advantage. Quinnipiac won the ensuing draw and fired off a quick shot which Delliturri saved. A Monmouth turnover led to a pair of quality scoring chances but Delliturri turned away both shots, including a free position attempt. Quinnipiac would get the ball back with just under two minutes to play but could only get off one shot that was wide of the net, preserving the Monmouth victory.  
 
The Hawks outshoot Quinnipiac 37-28 but Bobcat goaltender Kat Henselder made 15 saves in net to keep her team in the game.  Quinnipiac took a 2-0 lead early in the first half before the Hawks went on a 7-1 run to take a 8-5 lead with 4:57 remaining. Quinnipiac scored with 31 seconds left to cut the halftime deficit to two. The Bobcats tied it up in the first five minutes of the second frame with the two teams trading goals over the next ten minutes. Quinnipiac took an 11-10 lead with 11:27 on a Liza Bailey goal but Carli Mangum tied that up two minutes later. QU's Sophia Iaccino regained the lead for Quinnipiac with 8:00 showing before Allison Turturro knotted things up at 12-12 with 6:35 setting up Bleck's heroics.
 
QUOTES & NOTES
"Today was a fantastic, gritty win for us. All the credit to TK and Quinnipiac for a hard faught game, they made some great adjustments and gave us all we can handle. I'm very proud of our group for finishing the game strong and having to overcoming a really tough sixty minutes and still getting a win." Interim Head Coach Christie Kaestner
 
"Bleck has been awesome, she has absolutely come alive as of late. I think she has gotten more comfortable with her unit again. The entire offense is clicking and becoming dangerous from all angles which is so important for us moving forward." Kaestner on the play of Caroline Bleck and the offense being versatile

• The Hawks are now 23-5 all-time against Quinnipiac, including a 13-2 home record
• Bleck finished with 11 goals in the two games against QU
• Junior Gina Verrone finished with seven draw controls, four caused turnovers and four ground balls
• Megan Hart had five draw wins while Allison Turturro recorded five
• Mangum had a career-high four goals in the win
• Monmouth has three players with 20+ points, and two 20+ goal scorers in Turturro and Bleck 

NUMBERS CRUNCH

• Monmouth had 21 draw controls compared to six for Quinnipiac
• The Hawks committed a season-high 17 turnovers in the contest
• Quinnipiac was 4-of-8 on free position shots while MU was 3-of-7
• Monmouth's Alynne Abney had three caused turnovers
• Taylor Emmell and Nicole Ceraso each scored a goal for Monmouth
• Quinnipiac had three goals apiece from Iaccino and Megan Szawlowski

 
UP NEXT
The Hawks will host first-place Fairfield for a pair of matches next week with the first game coming on Thursday.