WEST LONG BRANCH, NJ- Monmouth University (4-2, 2-1 CAA) won its first ever Colonial Athletic Association home game on Saturday, outlasting the University at Albany (1-4, 0-2 CAA) at Kessler Stadium 38-31.
 
The Hawks rolled up 273 yards on the ground and had two backs go over 100-yards rushing while Tony Muskett threw for 187 yards on 13-of-21 passing. UAlbany did a lot of its damage on the ground as well with Todd Sibley going for 144 yards on 26 carries with a pair of touchdowns. Jaden Shirden and Owen Wright each had a pair of touchdowns with each back showing off their explosive play capabilities.
 
UAlbany scored first, capitalizing on a Monmouth interception before moving the ball on the ground with Sibley who piled in from two yards out to give the Great Danes a 7-0 lead with 10:18 left in the game. Monmouth responded on the next play with a 75-yard touchdown run by Jaden Shirden, his fifth rushing touchdown of 50+ yards this season. When the Hawks took their first lead of the game it was Shirden again, this time going up the middle for 30 yards to find paydirt.
 
Monmouth's defense came up big on a fourth and goal stop from the one on UAlbany's first drive of the second half. Three plays later it was Owen Wright who went for 99 yards, tying a Monmouth record and giving the Hawks a 21-7 lead midway through the second stanza.
 
Eric Bernstein converted his first field goal as a Hawk to push the lead to 24-7 with 5:07 left in opening half. Albany scored 10 straight points, three at the end of the first half and the first seven of the second to close the gap to 24-17. Muskett would extend his consecutive game with a touchdown pass streak when he hit sophomore tight end Jack Neri for a 16-yard strike with 3:42 left in the third quarter. Albany's Reese Poffenbarger got the Great Danes to within one score on a short touchdown run but the Hawks answered with a one-yard Owen Wright score to take a 38-24 lead with 6:28 left in the fourth. UAlbany would score once more, then have a shot to score the game-tying touchdown with three seconds left but Mike Reid knocked the ball away at the MU nine-yard line.
 
QUOTES & NOTES
"Even though we started 0-2, we never viewed ourselves as an 0-2 team. Each of those first two games could have gone either way. In both games, we held fourth quarter leads, and we just weren't able to hang on. Coming out of those games, we felt we needed to play a complete game, including finishing in the fourth quarter. If we did that in the first two, we would have won those games. In the last four weeks, we've done a lot better job at finishing." Coach Kevin Callahan on four-game win streak
 
 "I think we are a team that feeds off each other. We were fortunate to get a fourth-down stop on the one-yard line in the first half. Then moments later, Owen [Wright] takes it 99 yards for a touchdown, which was a huge play or us. That is complimentary football." Callahan on playing complimentary football
 
"One yard at a time. First, of all, I have to give a huge shoutout to the offensive line. None of this could be possible without them. We went into that play just needing to get that short yardage, and it ended up popping. From then on, I'm just running at that point." Owen Wright on 99-yard TD run
 
"We knew their running back was a really good back from watching film. We knew it was going to take all of us to tackle him. Just from watching film, not many teams were tackling with one guy. We were just trying our best to run to the ball and gang tackle." Da'Quan Grimes on mindset of the defense going into the game 

• Owen Wright's 99-yard touchdown run tied the Monmouth record with David Sinisi and Jim Varick – who both had 99-yard runs against Sacred Heart
• Jaden Shirden ran for 100 yards for the fifth consecutive game and became the first Hawk since David Sinisi in 2008 to have five straight games with at least 100 yards rushing.
• Shirden and Sinisi are the only two Monmouth backs to run for 100+ in five straight games
• Muskett has now thrown a touchdown in 21 consecutive games for the Blue & White
• Neri's third quarter touchdown reception was the first of the tight ends career
• Dymere Miller finished with 116 yards receiving, his second straight 100-yard receiving game
• Owen Wright's 12 rushing touchdowns this season tie him for seventh on the program's single season rushing touchdowns list with Matt Merklinger, who ran for 12 TDs in 2000.

 
NUMBERS CRUNCH

• Shirden became the 10^th player in program history to reach six career 100-yard games.
• Albany held a 501-460 yard advantage
• The Great Danes also held a 35:59 to 24:01 time of possession advantage
• Ryan Kost averaged 48.7 yards per punt with a long of 56 yards
• Monmouth was 5-of-9 on third down and 3-of-3 on redzone opportunities
• Grimes finished with a team-high 10 tackles while Reid had nine stops and three PBU's

 
UP NEXT
The Hawks are on the road next weekend when they head up to Maine. Kickoff between the Hawks and Black Bears is slated for 1 PM.