The past week has been a busy one for the women’s lacrosse team. The Bears (4-2, 0-1 Ivy) were edged out by Princeton (3-2, 1-0) 12-10 last weekend before earning a 15-14 win over in-state rival Bryant University (2-2) Wednesday. The action continued Saturday, as Bruno posted 20 goals and displayed strong defensive play at home in a 20-10 victory against the Hawks of Monmouth University (1-6).
Brown opened scoring in the first thirty seconds of play with a goal from Maggie Fowler ’21. The team conceded to Monmouth a minute and a half later, but quickly went on a 7-0 run to post an 8-1 advantage with 15:10 left to play in the first.
“Monmouth … started the game off with really high pressure, which was good for our offense because we have a lot of really good dodgers,” said Caroline Zaffino ’19. “That’s the perfect time to drive to cage.”
The Bears were able to spread the ball around in their rally with goals from Fowler, Zaffino, Hafsa Moinuddin ’19, Zoe Verni ’19 and Emma DeGennaro ’20 before the Hawks finally replied with just under 17 minutes left in the period.
The fast start was a point of emphasis for Brown’s offense.
“Coming off of our last game against Bryant, we didn’t open up that game (as) well as we wanted to,” DeGennaro said. “I think that really gave us a big drive in this game to come out super strong and just put away those shots like we normally do.”
DeGennaro and Risa Mosenthal ’21 each posted goals to give Bruno an eight-point lead before Monmouth scored with 14:44 left in the half. Mosenthal scored once more before back-to-back goals from Monmouth set the game at 11-4 in favor of the Bears.
Zaffino notched another goal with five minutes left to play. DeGennaro scored once more with four seconds remaining in the first and sent Bruno into the second half leading 13-5.
The Bears again got off to a quick start in the second half, as Moinuddin found the back of the net in the first 45 seconds. The goal — her second of the afternoon — put the game at 14-5.
The rest of the half went back and forth. Monmouth added a goal with 26:06 remaining, which Zaffino followed with her team-high fifth goal of the game. Monmouth then posted its seventh point, before Emma Dahle ’18 answered with another tally for Brown. Subsequent goals by the Hawks and Rosenthal gave Bruno an eleven-goal advantage.
After another Monmouth goal, Katelyn Igneri ’21 found the net with 6:51 left to play, posting the first goal of her collegiate career.
KC Williams ’20 scored next for the Bears, earning her first goal of the season. The Hawks scored once more with two and a half minutes left in the game, but Williams posted another goal to secure the victory for Bruno.
Overall, Brown dominated all phases of the game. Nine different players scored on offense as the team recorded 35 total shots. “What we say is on any given day, anyone can have a multiple goal game,” said Head Coach Keely McDonald ’00. “We want everyone to be a threat.”
DeGennaro also emphasized the depth of the team’s offense. “Everyone on our offense is a threat, so no matter who has the ball, we trust that that person can score.”
Strong defensive play matched the team’s offensive success, as Brown caused ten turnovers for the game and forced several shot-clock violations on Monmouth’s offense.
The Bears’ busy schedule continues next weekend. The team travels to New Haven to face Yale Saturday and returns home to host Iona College Sunday, which will mark a total of five games played in only fifteen days.
“Something that we like to say is that when we’re tired, our communication is what’s going to be our armor. You’re going to get tired with all these games back-to-back, but when we talk a lot we can help each other be clear, we can help each other out through the game,” Zaffino said. “The thing that our team always falls back on is each other.”
