West Long Branch, NJ — Monmouth Field Hockey secured a 5-0 shutout over visiting William & Mary Friday on So Sweet A Cat Field, clinching its 13th consecutive playoff berth and fifth-straight in the CAA while celebrating its coveted senior class prior to the game.
"It's awesome that we get to honor the seniors this way and then awesome to get to see the future stepping in in very big ways, not only just scoring in these moments but playing really big roles and really big minutes," said Hawks coach
Carli Figlio. "The seniors from freshman year to now, we're a completely different program. We're in the national conversation consistently and that has everything to do with this class."
Monmouth honored its prestigious senior class which included defender
Audrey Mullen, midfielder
Luisa Schlueter, forward
Lauren Relik, defender Eulalie Browers, defender
Anna Moors, forward
Ava Zerfass and midfielder
Hannah Tromble. The seven have been pivotal in the rise of the Hawks field hockey program, building the foundation of a perennial top 20 team, including its highest national ranking of No. 11 last season. As Monmouth celebrated the culmination of its four-year run with the group, it was the freshmen for the Hawks who had big days to buoy the dominant 5-0 rout.
"They are the foundation," Figlio continued. "And obviously, because it's such a large class it's going to be very hard to replace them next year. I think the thing that has been very nice to see, whether in practice or in a game is their tutelage to the young kids and almost like, 'when I'm gone, this is for you.' We talked a little bit about that before the game, but they are the foundation where we're going this year and would love to see them be able to finish their fourth year in the position that they want to."
Maja Schröder got the scoring output started, as she made a smart off-ball run that found herself 1-v-1 with Tribe goalie Emma Cari. Alicia Vandrlyde played the freshman defender in behind and
Schröder did the rest as she smashed a ball far left corner for the game's first goal in the 22nd minute to break the stalemate.
Gallery: (10-16-2026) Field Hockey vs. Will&Mary - Senior Day
A trio of seniors then helped double the lead late in the third quarter. Relik inserted on a penalty corner to Schlueter who laid a pass for Moors. Moors then lasered her fifth of the year to double the Hawks' lead.
Monmouth added onto its cushion two minutes later, as
Milla Frye dribbled baseline before centering a beautiful pass for
Stella Goddard-Despot waiting in front of the net. The junior did the rest, as she one timed her shot into the back of the net for her fifth of the year.
Relik then aided in a career-first for freshman defender
Olivia Oliver, as she earned another penalty corner for the Hawks two minutes into the fourth.
Schröder inserted to Mullen who touched a pass down for Oliver, who ripped a shot bottom corner for her first career goal.
Frye then ended an exciting day in an emphatic way with a highlight goal in the 53rd minute. Schlueter sent a pass inside the circle for
Éabha Curran who one-touched a ball to Frye, who laid out to chip a shot over the William & Mary goalie Alexandra de Jesus for her team leading 12th goal of the year.
"That's definitely a SportsCenter Top 10 moment," Figlio said. "I couldn't actually see who was flying through the air, but what a finish. That might be the finish of the year for sure."
The Hawks totaled 10 different point getters in the win.
Schröder and Frye each had a goal and an assist apiece with Schlueter following with two assists.
Charlie Bowman earned the win in net and finished with three stops as she and
Djoeke van Helsdingen recorded their third combined shutout.
The victory also ended a two-game losing skid for the Hawks as they improved to 4-0 in the CAA and 9-3 overall. They have four games left in the regular season, starting with No. 19 University of Virginia Sunday in Charlottesville, VA. Monmouth then concludes CAA play with regular season championship hopes on the line against Fairfield and Northeastern, sandwiched between a road matchup against No. 5 nationally ranked Harvard.
"We scheduled the regular season to be harder on purpose, because as we get closer to the tournament and the things that we want to do in the tournament, we want to be battle tested and also, we're on the road too so there are no excuses. We've been there and we've done that," Figlio added. "We try to work out all the kinks before it really counts. Obviously, the last two conference games those two teams are really, really tough. We just have to be in the moment and be where our feet are and not look too far ahead. We have a great opportunity going down to UVA and then playing a Harvard, playing a Fairfield and then playing a Northeastern, hopefully we can continue to build momentum. There's still a lot of work for us to do, so that's exciting for us is that we're not quite where we want to be."
The Hawks are set to face the Cavaliers Sunday at 12 p.m.
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