WEST LONG BRANCH, N.J. -- The Columbia women's lacrosse team suffered its first loss of the season on Saturday afternoon, dropping a hard-fought, non-conference contest to the Monmouth Hawks in New Jersey. The Lions defense was on display, especially in the second half, but ultimately it wasn't enough as the Hawks escaped with a 12-9 victory.
"We battled first whistle to last whistle today," Head Coach Anne Murray said. "Our defensive unit played well together. We had big saves from Ella Sangree and momentum stealing takeaways from Justine Decker, but in the end it wasn't enough. We will regroup and get back to work Monday!"
Sophie Zachara led the offense, netting a hat trick on seven shots to go with three draw controls. First-year
Cordelia Flemming added two goals. and an assist.
Cecelia Messner chipped in a goal and an assist.
Serena Hong,
Annalisa Massaro, and
Kayla Nitahara each had one goal.
The Hawks struck first in the game, but the Lions were quick to answer after Zachara scored back-to-back goals just over one minute apart to give the Lions their first lead of the game. Columbia then extended that lead to 3-1 after first-year Messner found first-year Flemming for her first goal of the afternoon.
That would unfortunately be the Lions' last lead of the night, as Monmouth would go on a 6-0 run spanning nearly 17 minutes and lasting until midway into the second quarter. This run was halted by Hong who found the back of the net at the 6:21 mark of the second period to cut the Hawks' lead down to 7-4.
Columbia would score twice more in the half, including a beautiful goal from Zachara just before the quarter's game clock expired, to head into halftime trialing by just one goal.
The defenses took control of the game in the third quarter, with just three total goals being scored, and none after Massaro's goal at the 8:39 mark that cut Monmouth's lead back to two goals.
Unfortunately, two goals would be as close as Columbia could get in the fourth quarter, as the Hawks held on to win a close game.
Ella Sangree notched a career-high 12 saves between the pipes for the Lions.
Justine Decker led Columbia with five ground balls top go with one caused turnover. Adèle Swanson and
Kate Cunning had two caused turnovers each.
The Lions will attempt to bounce back on Wednesday, March 1 when they will travel to take on the Manhattan Jaspers. Game time is set for 3 p.m.
For the latest on Columbia lacrosse, follow @CULionsLax on Twitter and Instagram, and on the web at GoColumbiaLions.com.
