WEST LONG BRANCH – Top-seeded Monmouth University’s run at a second-straight Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Tournament Championship ended Friday, Nov. 7, with a 1-0 defeat to fourth-seeded and eventual champion Rider University at Hesse Field on The Great Lawn in the MAAC Semifinals.
“Our season was a memorable one and we cannot judge it based on this game,” said head coach Krissy Turner, whose squad was the MAAC Regular Season Champions for a second-straight year. “Our senior class lead us to two regular season titles and one NCAA berth. We appreciate the effort that they displayed during their careers wearing a Monmouth jersey.”
In the 40th minute after a Monmouth foul just outside of the box, Rider’s Priscilla Santos scored on a free kick into the far netting over the outstretched arm of Nicole D’Agostino to give the Broncs a 1-0 lead heading into halftime.
“We had a great second half but the game is 90 minutes and we let part of the game slip away,” Turner said. “Despite that, we had some good chances to get the equalizer but didn’t convert.”
Monmouth, which had its eight-game win streak snapped with the loss, outshot Rider 22-8 overall, including a 13-2 edge in the second half of action. The Hawks also had a 6-2 advantage in corner-kick opportunities.
D’Agostino made four saves for the Hawks, three of which came in the opening 3 minutes of the match, while Rider sophomore netminder Bethany-May Howard made nine stops for the Broncs (12-5-2), which advance to the MAAC Championship final. Rider beat Fairfield University 5-4 in the final Sunday, Nov. 9.
Monmouth finished its season at 14-5-0 overall and posted its ninth straight double-digit win total season. The senior class won 52 games during the four-year span, two regular season championships and earned a berth into the 2013 NCAA Tournament.
