STONY BROOK, N.Y. – Despite controlling long stretches of the match and generating 20 shots, the Monmouth University women's soccer team dropped its CAA opener in a 1-0 setback to Stony Brook on Sunday afternoon at Kenneth P. LaValle Stadium.
The loss moved the Hawks to 5-2-2 overall and 0-1-0 in CAA play, while Stony Brook improved to 4-0-4 and 1-0-0 in conference action. Monmouth held a 20-12 advantage in shots, earned all eight corner kicks in the match and controlled 59 percent of the possession, but Emanuelly Ferreira's goal early in the second half proved to be the difference.
"Sometimes the result doesn't reflect the effort, character and quality a team puts into a game," said Head Coach Kylee Flynn. There's no doubt we created enough chances and did many things well. Just fell short on the most important; finding the back of the net."
Monmouth came out aggressively and created several opportunities in the opening minutes. Charlee Perna forced Stony Brook goalkeeper Jona Hennings into a save in the fourth minute before sending another attempt wide less than two minutes later. Chloe Messer had a shot blocked in the sixth minute and followed with another attempt high in the 11th as the Hawks controlled the early possession.
The pressure continued throughout the opening half. Ashley Lavrich sent a shot wide in the 12th minute, while Messer and Maddie DeMaio each created additional chances. Monmouth earned four corner kicks before halftime and held an 11-4 advantage in shots over the first 45 minutes. Messer produced the Hawks' second shot on target in the 35th minute, but Hennings made the save to keep the match scoreless.
Stony Brook began to create more opportunities after the break and eventually broke through in the 50th minute.
Maya Corbett and Juni Einarsson combined to set up Ferreira, who found the back of the net to give the Seawolves a 1-0 advantage. The goal ended Monmouth's run of three consecutive shutouts.
The Hawks immediately looked for an answer. Brooke De Almeida and Messer both generated opportunities shortly after the goal, but Monmouth was unable to convert. At the other end, Tallulah Miller kept the deficit at one with a save against Leah Rifas in the 65th minute.
Monmouth continued to push numbers forward over the final 15 minutes. Loren Gehret had an attempt blocked in the 79th minute before Messer saw another shot blocked in the 84th. Perna came close to leveling the match late, forcing Hennings into a save at 85:53 following another Monmouth corner kick.
The Hawks produced one final chance in the closing seconds when Gehret put a shot on target at 89:54, but Hennings made the stop to preserve the shutout and the 1-0 Stony Brook victory.
Messer led Monmouth with six shots, while Perna finished with four attempts and two shots on goal. DeMaio, Lavrich, De Almeida and Gehret each added multiple shots. Miller made three saves over the full 90 minutes.
Flynn continued, "We will take the lessons from today, own the things we can improve on, and use this experience to grow and get better for the games ahead."
With the loss, Monmouth's three-match winning streak and three-match shutout streak came to an end. The Hawks will look for their first conference victory on Thursday against UNCW in Wilmington, N.C. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. at the UNCW Soccer Stadium.
