Aug. 28, 2009

Box Score

WEST LONG BRANCH, NJ - La Salle freshman Rebecca Chylack scored her first collegiate goal 16 minutes into the game, but host Monmouth answered with two unanswered tallies in the second half to beat the Explorers, 2-1, in the season opener for both teams. Junior goal keeper Emma Ruth had seven saves in the loss.

The Explorers, which beat the Mountain Hawks by the same score in last year's opener in Philadelphia, took the 1-0 lead early. Senior captain Kelly Dougherty threaded a pass to Chylack who deposited it in the cage.

Nine minutes later, Monmouth answered when Enza Mazza turned a shot fake into a give-and-go pass to junior Meredith Violi who knocked it in for the Hawks' first goal of the season, evening the game at 1-1 going into halftime.

The second half of play saw a back-and-forth battle between the two teams, but it was Sarah Keppel's deflected shot in into the right corner of the net that put the Blue and White ahead for good 17 minutes into the final period.

The Hawks outshot the Explorers, 15-11, while losing the battle of corners, 9-6.Chylack had three of La Salle's 11 shots.

The Explorers are back in action on Sunday when they visit cross-town rival Drexel at noon.