No. 23 Monmouth Sneaks By Lions, 2-1, in Shootout

Sunday, October 20

West Long Branch, N.J.

12:00 P.M.

Columbia

(6-7 (2-2Ivy))

Monmouth

(10-4 (3-0AE))

Columbia

Monmouth

No. 23 Monmouth Sneaks By Lions, 2-1, in Shootout

10/20/2019 2:31:00 PM | Field Hockey

Box Score Box Score (.pdf)

Alexa Conomikes turned away 10 shots and Isabella Collins provided an early goal, but the Hawks denied the upset in strokes.

WEST LONG BRANCH, N.J. – The Columbia field hockey team put up another strong fight against a ranked opponent, but No. 23 Monmouth came away with a 2-1 shootout victory Sunday afternoon. Goalkeeper Alexa Conomikes made a career-high 10 saves and Brooke Gasser paced the Lions (6-7) with six shots.

The Hawks (10-4) scored on its first two tries of the shootout and Monmouth goalie Kate O'Hogan denied all four tries by Columbia to prevent an upset.

Columbia applied the pressure early on, forcing O'Hogan to make a trio of saves during a two-minute stretch during the first quarter. However, on the third attempt, Isabella Collins buried the rebound off of Allison's Smith's attempt in the 10^th minute to put the Lions on top.

The Hawks pushed back in the second quarter, generating a penalty corner and its first shot attempt that was blocked by the Columbia defense in the 17^th minute. Moments later, Monmouth was awarded a penalty stroke that was turned away by Conomikes to keep the Lions in front temporarily. On Monmouth's third corner of the period, Annick van Lange netted her 13^th goal of the season to even things up at 1-1 in the 22^nd minute.

Columbia made an adjustment and picked up its first two corners of the match, but three shots were blocked before getting to the net. Conomikes was forced to make two more key saves in the 25^th minute to keep things knotted going into the break.

In the third quarter, Monmouth posted the only shots of the frame. Once again, Conomikes, was up to the task and turned away three shots, setting up a thrilling finale.

The Lions drew three consecutive corners in the 51^st minute, but came up empty. The Hawks countered with several chances, but the Columbia backline held strong. Gasser came up with a clutch defensive save and Conomikes made two more stops to extend the contest.

In overtime, the Lions had a 4-2 edge on shots in the two extra sessions. Conomikes was tasked with coming up with another save in the closing moments before the shootout.

The Lions jump back into Ivy League play next Saturday, October 26, at Dartmouth. Game time is set for 11:30 a.m. on ESPN+.

For the latest on Columbia field hockey, follow @columbiafhockey on Twitter, @columbiafh on Instagram, and on the web at GoColumbiaLions.com.