Box score
WEST LONG BRANCH, NJ—Nicole Close scored two goals and assisted on two others for Monmouth in its 6-0 win over visiting NJIT in a Labor Day evening women's soccer matchup.
Both teams came in winless in three previous tries early in the 2011 season, but Monmouth is long-established as a regional power in Division I and the Hawks showed why on Monday night.
Monmouth, which won a combined 65 games the previous five seasons and which was picked second in the Northeast Conference preseason coaches' poll, had defeated Rutgers in a preseason exhibition, 2-0. However, the Hawks stumbled out of the blocks in the regular season, falling to Miami (FL), Seton Hall, and Lafayette.
NJIT, meanwhile, hasn't even been in Division I as long as Monmouth's streak of double digit-win seasons (NJIT became postseason-eligible in Division I in 2007 and Monmouth has at least 10 wins in a season every year beginning in 2006, including 15 and an NCAA berth as recently as 2009).
Close, a junior midfielder for Monmouth, scored her team's first goal and fifth goal and assisted on the third and sixth goals. Dana Costello, a sophomore who tied for the team scoring lead with 17 points in 2010, added a goal and two assists for the Hawks. She assisted on the opening goal by Close, scored the second goal for MU unassisted and then helped on the first goal of the second half, a tally by Monique Plescia.
Also scoring goals for the Hawks were: Courtney Snyder and Areli Bermudez Delgado. Snyder added an assist, as did Jennie Vartebedian.
Junior Ashley Lewis started in goal and played the first half for Monmouth without being forced to make a save. Freshman Jocelyn McCoy came on at halftime and finished up the shutout with two saves. NJIT's goalkeeper was sophomore
Anna Kornmuller, who stopped six shots.
Monmouth outshot the Highlanders 18-3 overall and put 12 shots on goal to two for NJIT. The corner kicks were 9-0, Monmouth.
Close netted the first goal at 19:53 and there was only one previous shot on goal before she broke the ice. But Monmouth got off three shots, one of which was saved, one of which went wide, and one of which hit the goal post, plus two corner kicks in the five minutes that followed the opening goal.
Having survived the flurry, NJIT kept Monmouth off the board for nearly 10 minutes before Costello beat Kornmuller 1-v-1 and scored the second goal at 34:12. The Hawks picked up their third goal on a re-start, as they threw the ball in, sent it ahead on one touch and finished with Snyder scoring on assists from Close and Vartebedian.
It took less than three minutes for Monmouth to add to its lead following halftime, as Plescia scored, assisted by Costello in the 48th minute.
Close netted her second goal of the night and of the season with an assist from Snyder at 67:12, seconds after Costello had hit the crossbar with a shot.
Bermudez Delgado, a freshman from Mexico, finished off the scoring with her first college goal 1:31 from the final whistle. She scored with a header of a corner kick by Close.
NJIT returns to action against another member of the Northeast Conference, Fairleigh Dickinson, in Teaneck, NJ, at 7 pm on Friday.
After that, the Highlanders, who will have played four of their first five contests on the road, will be at home for six straight matches between September 11 and October 7.
