WEST LONG BRANCH, NJ - The Monmouth University women's soccer team opened its 2015 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) slate with a 3-1 victory over Marist on Hesse Field on Saturday night as the Hawks used a pair of second half goals from junior Erica Murphy (Millstone Township, NJ/Pennington Prep) to secure the league win.

 

Monmouth, which is now 18-1-2 overall in MAAC matches in its third season in the conference, improved to 5-1-2 overall, as Murphy registered her second two-goal match of the season - the fourth of her career.

 

Head coach Krissy Turner said, "We were able to battle through some stages of the game in which we did not play our best but in the end we persevered. Getting a result in our first conference game is an important step."

 

The Hawks got off to a quick start when junior Julie Spracklin (Eastampton, NJ/Rancocas Valley Regional) dropped a pass back to senior Brianne Boyle (Hazlet, NJ/Raritan) at the top of the box, who fired a shot into the netting in the second minute. Boyle's first score of the season came off of Spracklin's team-leading fifth assist.

 

Marist (1-6-1, 0-1 MAAC) knotted the contest in the 40th minute when Hope Quinonez converted a penalty kick for her first career goal.

 

Murphy netted the first of her two tallies in the 72nd minute when junior Alexis McTamney (Bordentown, NJ/Bordentown Regional) played a ball wide to an overlapping Rachael Ivanicki (Marlboro, NJ/Colts Neck), who found Murphy for the one-timer, which got by Makala Foley into the far netting. The Hawks took a 3-1 lead in the 78th minute as sophomore Rachelle Ross (Mount Laurel, NJ/Lenape) fed Murphy for her 16th career goal.

 

Monmouth held a 13-8 edge in shots and a 9-8 advantage in corner kick opportunities.

 

Foley made two saves in goal for the Red Foxes, while junior Sydney Lavan (Jackson, NJ/Jackson Memorial) made three stops in net for the Hawks.

 

Monmouth returns to action on Saturday, September 26, when the Hawks host Canisius College at 1:00 p.m. on Hesse Field, when the program observes Breast Cancer Awareness Day.

 

Monmouth Notes:

- Monmouth is now 3-0 versus Marist in league games since joining the MAAC, and Erica Murphy has the game-winner in all three games.

- The goal at 1:21 was Monmouth's fastest score of the season, and the quickest since scoring just 25 seconds into the game against Saint Peter's on 10/23/13 (Spracklin from Dana Costello).

 

@MUWSoccer -- #FlyHawks