Box Score

Box score

WEST LONG BRANCH, NJ—Freshman Alexis McTamney scored two goals, leading the Monmouth women's soccer team to its fourth win in four 2013 starts, as the Hawks blanked NJIT 3-0 Thursday night on The Great Lawn on Monmouth's campus.
 
The Hawks, who were upset by NJIT last year in Newark, 2-1, got all the scoring they would need this time around on McTamney's goal in the eighth minute. The scored remained 1-0 all the way until the 73rd minute, when McTamney struck again and Dana Costello added another insurance goal for MU four minutes later.
 
McTamney, who led the state of New Jersey with 58 goals in 2012 as a senior at Bordentown High School, has found the back of the net four times in her first four college games after Thursday's brace vs. the Highlanders. She was named Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Rookie of the Week on September 3, after netting two goals in Monmouth's 3-2 win over Seton Hall on September 2. Her season total for the Hawks is four goals and an assist in four games.
 
Before edging Seton Hall, Monmouth registered 1-0 victories over Delaware and Lehigh to open the season in August. Thursday's road loss drops the Highlanders to 1-4 in 2013. Three of the losses have been shutouts to go with a 3-2 win at Saint Peter's and a 2-1 loss at 2012 NCAA Tournament qualifier Stony Brook.
 
On September 2, 2012, NJIT scored what is likely its most impressive win ever when it topped Monmouth 2-1 in Newark.
 
Monmouth has a well-earned reputation as a perennially strong team in women's soccer. The Hawks, who are known best at the national level for having produced long-time United States Women's National Team stalwart Christie (Pearce) Rampone, entered this season with 329 wins since 1985.
 
Krissy Turner, the coach since 1998, has 163 wins, including this season's 4-0 start. MU, which joined the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference beginning this season, captured four championships in the Northeast Conference, including 2007 and 2009, when Turner guided the Hawks to the NCAA Tournament.
 
Last season, NJIT which began women's soccer in 1996 as a member of NCAA Division II and played its first Division I schedule in 2006, scored its first ever win over Monmouth, having lost the first five matches with the Hawks. The series began in 2006 and skipped a year in 2009, with Monmouth winning all five matchups by shutout over NJIT's fledgling Division I program.
 
Last year, NJIT scored first on a penalty kick in the first half, Monmouth tied on a goal in the 66th minute, but the Highlanders got the game-winner from Gechi Ukaegbu (Class of 2013) in the 80th minute. The Highlanders won that game despite being outshot, 15-9, although the saves were even at two apiece and NJIT actually put more shots on frame, 4-3.
 
There would be no repeat in the 2013 rematch, as the stats were nowhere near as close, even though the score stood at only 1-0 for Monmouth heading into the final 18 minutes.
 
The final shots Thursday were 24-2 for the Hawks, including 13-1 in shots on goal. The corner kicks also favored the winners, 10-1.
 
The NJIT shots came from freshman Brittany Goulart and from sophomore Abi Fakolujo, who had scored the Highlanders goal in their 2-1 loss at Stony Brook last weekend.
 
Monmouth's senior goalkeeper Ashley Lewis used one save to post the clean sheet, while NJIT keeper Samantha Bersett stopped nine Monmouth shots.
 
The first goal, at 7:51, came from McTamney, assisted by Alexandra Baca, a senior who was first-team All-Northeast Conference as a junior. McTamney's second goal of the night, at 72:01, earned an assist for Julie Spracklin, a freshman who was All-South Jersey for four years in high school.
 
And the nightcap came from Dana Costello, a first-team All-Northeast Conference honoree following both her sophomore and junior season. Costello, Monmouth's leading scorer in both 2011 and 2012, vonverted a long crossing pass from Alexa Freguletti 4:40 after the second McTamney goal and 13:59 ahead of the final whistle.
 
McTamney's first goal of the night was a breakaway, as she received a through ball from Baca and finished the play. Her second goal was a 1-v-1 finish, as she knocked the ball past NJIT's Bersett. The Costello marker came after the cross from Freguletti, who was first-team All-Northeast Conference as a sophomore in 2012. Costello turned on the ball and got off a shot for her first goal of 2012 and the 22nd of her career.
 
The Highlanders will return home on Sunday for a 1 pm contest with Lafayette on Lubetkin Field at Mal Simon Stadium. That game is part of a soccer doubleheader, as the NJIT men will host George Washington at 4 pm on Alumni Day.
 
Lafayette and NJIT played to a 1-1 tie in women's soccer when the teams faced off last September 22 in Easton, PA. The Leopards, who will host Binghamton on Friday not before coming to Newark for Sunday's game, are 2-0 in 2013, with home wins over Manhattan, 2-1, on August 25, and 3-2 over Sacred Heart on September 1. They were 9-6-2 in 2012, including the tie with NJIT.