WEST LONG BRANCH, NJ- Monmouth University's (8-4, 7-3 MAAC) women's lacrosse team never trailed in a dominating 15-6 win over Manhattan (3-9, 3-8 MAAC) on Saturday in the 2021 MAAC Tournament Quarterfinals held at Kessler Stadium.
 
The Hawks used a five-goal unanswered run in the first half to take a commanding 6-1 lead and played outstanding defense to secure their spot in Thursday's semifinal matchup. Senior Allison Turturro had five goals to lead all scorers while Nicole Ceraso chipped in with seven points on three goals and four assists. Goalie Stephanie Delliturri made 10 saves in the game while Megan Hart led the defense with two ground balls, two caused turnovers and seven draw controls.
 
Monmouth broke open a 1-1 tie when junior Hope Steuerwald took a feed from Carli Mangum and beat the Manhattan netminder at the 25:09 mark. The Hawks would go on to score four more unanswered over the next 10 minutes including two from Ceraso. Manhattan's Carmella Liscio scored at the 15:39 mark but the Hawks closed out the half with three consecutive unassisted goals.
 
Manhattan took some of the momentum in the second half, scoring three out of the first four goals in the frame to cut Monmouth's lead to 10-5. Turturro ensured that the Jaspers would get no closer, scoring the Hawks next three goals to push the lead to 13-6. Senior Sarah Gillogly and Ceraso wrapped up the score to give the Hawks a nine-goal victory.
 
QUOTES AND NOTES
"I am so proud of our team for the complete effort. It is an incredible feeling to earn another opportunity together to compete together to continue on our quest for a championship. From the sidelines to the offense to the defense everything was stellar today." – Monmouth Interim Head Coach Christie Kaestner
 
"We were fortunate that we were familiar with Manhattan after playing them just a few weeks ago. Our defense has been really clicking as a unit, especially after Wednesday and today. They knew they had to step up and make some stops, proactive stops, which they did." -Kaestner on the play of the defense
 

• Bleck scored her 100^th goal in the win
• The Hawks are now 13-0 all-time against Manhattan
• MU has averaged 16.2 goals per game in the last six matchups with the Jaspers
• Brianna Falco made her first start of the season and her eighth overall start on the defense. The sophomore had two caused turnovers and a ground ball
• Turturro led the Hawks with eight draw controls
• Seven different players scored goals for the Hawks
• Monmouth advances to the semifinals of the MAAC Tournament for the sixth time in seven seasons

 
NUMBERS CRUNCH

• The Hawks dominated the draw circle 18-5
• Monmouth collected 23 ground balls in the contest compared to 12 for the Jaspers
• MU outshot their opponents 30-21
• Manhattan was 3-of-4 on free position attempts, Monmouth was just 3-of-7
• Manhattan committed 14 turnovers compared to 16 for the Hawks

 
 
UP NEXT
Monmouth will play the winner of the Siena and Canisius contest on Thursday in the Seminfinals. If Siena wins the game will be in Loudonville, if the Griffs win the Hawks will host at Kessler Stadium.