WEST LONG BRANCH – Monmouth University women’s soccer head coach Krissy Turner has announced the program’s 2014 schedule as the Hawks embark on their second season in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference.
Monmouth, which captured the conference regular season and tournament championships in 2013 and advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the third time, has nine home matches this year on the new Hesse Field at The Great Lawn.
“The 2014 schedule will present unique challenges for us and two new opponents in Patriot League … American and Bucknell,” said Turner, who enters her 17th year at the helm of the Hawks. “With a strong core of returners, this schedule has a good balance of home and away matches that will prepare us well for the rigors of MAAC play.”
After a pair of preseason scrimmages against Villanova and Saint Joseph’s, Monmouth opens its 2014 campaign with a road match at the University of Delaware at 7 p.m. Friday, Aug. 22 at Grant Stadium. The Hawks defeated the Blue Hens, who posted their third straight winning season in ’13, during last year’s season opener.
The Hawks, who finished 2013 with a perfect 9-0 mark at home, host a pair of Patriot League institutions, American University on Sunday, Aug. 24, and Bucknell University on Friday, Aug. 29, on Hesse Field. Monmouth is 2-0 all-time versus American, but the two schools have not met since 1994, while the game with the Bucknell Bison will be a first-ever meeting.
Monmouth then hits the road for three-straight matches against Garden State foes, as the Blue & White open the string with a 7 p.m. Monday, Sept. 1 contest at Seton Hall, which is under the guidance of first-year head coach Rick Stainton. The Hawks round out the road trip with night road matches at NJIT on Thursday, Sept. 4, which set a program-record for wins last year, and Fairleigh Dickinson on Friday, Sept. 12, which earned the No. 2 seed in the Northeast Conference postseason in 2013.
The Blue & White return home for a three-match stand, starting with hosting their third Patriot League side with Lafayette College on Sunday, Sept. 14, before entertaining Hofstra on Hesse Field a week later on Sept. 21. Next up, the Hawks open MAAC play by hosting Siena on Sept. 24 under the lights.
After a league road match at Canisius on Sept. 27, Monmouth begins to alternate home and away weeks in conference play, as the Hawks host Saint Peter’s on Oct. 1 and Niagara on Oct. 4 at Hesse Field at The Great Lawn. Road matches will be Oct. 8 at Manhattan and Oct. 11 at Fairfield, the Hawks’ opponent in last season’s MAAC Championship game.
The Hawks play their final two home matches of the regular season as night games on Oct. 18 against Quinnipiac, which will serve as Senior Night for the program and on Oct. 22 against Iona.
Monmouth’s regular season slate concludes with 7 p.m. matches at Marist on Oct. 25 and on Oct. 29 at cross-state rival Rider.
This year’s MAAC postseason will feature a six-team field with the top two seeds earning byes to the semifinals, while in the first round, the No. 3 seed will host the No. 6 seed, while the No. 4 seed will host the No. 5 seed. The semifinals and championship game will be held on the campus of the top-seed.
During its first season in the MAAC, Monmouth tied a program record with 17 victories and set a new school mark with 16 shutouts. Led by Turner, the MAAC Coach of the Year, the Hawks advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the third time in program history and was ranked as high as fourth in the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) Northeast Region.
