Monmouth soccer teams poised to make postseason run
Men and women each have six overall wins, doing well in NEC play
BY DOUG McKENZIE Correspondent
Alittle over a month into the season, both the Monmouth University men's and women's soccer teams appear poised to challenge for Northeast Conference championships.

The defending champion men opened conference play on Saturday with a convincing 4-0 victory over Mount Saint Mary's on The Great Lawn. With the win, the Hawks improved to 6-2-2 overall, and captured their seventh shutout of the young season.

Monmouth freshman Ryan Kinne scored the Hawks' first goal off a feed from senior Damon Wilson, who made his way to the end line and fed Kinne for the one-timer to open the scoring.

Senior midfielder Michael Millar was the next Hawk to get into the scoring act, as he found the net on a free kick, which actually deflected off a Mount defender's head.

The Hawks' third goal came off the foot of junior Rob LaRocca, a CBA graduate from Holmdel, who beat Mount St. Mary goalie Chris Davis with a one-timer off a feed from freshman Drew Von Bargen. Monmouth then ended the scoring when junior John Castro, of Piscataway, beat backup goalie Will Pike off a feed from Wilson, who notched his second assist of the game, and his team-leading fifth of the season.

Meanwhile, senior Daniel Schenkel and freshman Bryan Meredith combined for the shutout in net for the Hawks.

"This is a good way to start the conference season," Monmouth head coach Robert McCourt said after the win. "It's always great to get a win, but we realize that we have a long road ahead of us and a lot of work to do in order to achieve our goals."

While LaRocca has two goals on the year, Tom Gray, a former All-State player

at Middletown South, also leads Monmouth's

offense. Gray, who leads

the team with five goals and

three assists and top returning

scorer from last year's team,

was named to the College Soccer

News preseason All-America

Third Team prior to the

season, and was also included

as one of the 29 players on the

Men's Hermann Trophy Watch List, awarded to the top player in the country.

While earning first-team All-Northeast Conference and first-team All-Region honors last year, Gray led the NEC with a career high 14 assists, helping lead the Hawks to the NEC Championship, an NCAA Tournament appearance and the program's first-ever national ranking. Gray is the first Monmouth player to be added to the Hermann Trophy watch list, as he ranked second in the NCAA in assists per game last year.

The Monmouth men, who haven't lost to an NEC opponent in 20 matches, a streak that dates back to the 2004 season, will return to action on Friday, when they host Long Island University at 3 p.m.

The Blackbirds are 2-5-2 early on, including 0-1-1 in NEC play, having lost their last match, 2-0, to St. Francis (Pa.) on Sunday. This coming Sunday, the Hawks will host St. Francis, who is 2-0 in NEC play, putting them atop the standings with Quinnipiac entering the week's action.

As for the Monmouth women, the Hawks were also victorious over the weekend, defeating NEC rival Wagner on Sunday, 2-0, to win their fourth straight match and improve to 6-2-3 overall, and 2-0 in conference play.

Senior Amy Hoyer set up the first goal at the 49:15 mark of the second half when she found sophomore Shannon Rodgers on a corner kick. A Wagner defender kicked Rodgers' initial shot back to her, but the Massapequa native calmly put the ball back on goal to open the scoring.

Monmouth then went ahead 2-0 at the 76:08 mark, when Wagner's Stephanie Burnett was carded in the box for taking down MU's Mary Wilks, of Bridgeton, who was chasing down a cross from sophomore forward Andrea Lopez, an Ocean Township graduate. Former Brick Township star Allesandra DeTata then converted the penalty kick for her first goal of the season.

Freshman Lia Fierro, of Short Hills, registered the shutout for the Hawks, her fourth of the year, in a game in which Monmouth dominated the action throughout. The Hawks outshot Wagner, 23-0, including 15-0 in the second half, and had a pair of shots bounce off the crossbar and

goalpost.

Following the game, Monmouth head coach Krissy Turner was pleased with the effort.

"To get our second conference win is moving us closer to our goal of making the NEC Tournament," she said, as her team took over the top spot in the conference. "We still have seven games left and have to take them one game at a time."

The Monmouth roster includes several local players, led by Brick's DeTata and Sarah Conway, both sophomores, Lopez and former East Brunswick goalie Amanda Nagy, also a sophomore.

Thus far, Lopez leads the team in scoring with three goals and two assists, while Hoyer is close behind with two goals and three assists.

The Monmouth women will also be back in action on Friday when they travel to Fairleigh Dickinson for a 2:30 p.m. affair. FDU is 4-8 on the year, having lost their last four games.