WEST LONG BRANCH, N.J. – Paced by three goals from sophomore Tyler Keen (Downingtown, Pa./Downingtown West), the Monmouth University men's lacrosse team posted its second straight victory with a 7-3 win over Wagner at Monmouth Stadium on Tuesday afternoon. Keen, who now leads the team with six goals, has scored all six in Monmouth’s last two victories, including Saturday’s win at Rutgers.
The Hawks, who led 3-2 at the half, outscored the Seahawks 2-0 in the third and led 7-2 until Wagner scored its lone goal of the second half with 1:31 remaining in the contest.
“To get another win and our first at home feels great," stated head coach Brian Fisher. "We did not play a mistake free game, nor a perfect game, but I thought our intensity, focus and determination helped us pull through today to get another solid win.”
Sophomore Eric Berger (Ardsley, Pa./Penn Charter) notched a pair of assists for the Hawks, while senior goalkeeper Garrett Conaway (Marriottsville, Md./Liberty), who entered the game ranked fifth in the NCAA in goals-against-average (6.50), made nine saves, allowing three goals, while facing 26 shots.
Keen netted his first goal to open the scoring, giving the Hawks a 1-0 edge just 1:39 into the affair, before Wagner tied the game at 1-1 with 5:56 remaining the period on a Billy Orme score. Sophomore Kevin Murphy (Lafayette Hill, Pa./Penn Charter) notched his first goal of the season, an unassisted tally, to give Monmouth a 2-1 edge at the end of one quarter.
Paul DeVita's goal for Wagner tied the game at 2-2 with 9:17 left in the half, but Keen's second unassisted score gave the Hawks a 3-2 lead at the intermission.
Monmouth doubled its advantage to 4-2 at 9:47 of the third on freshman Bryce Wasserman's (Southlake, Texas/Grapevine Faith) score and the Hawks, who limited Wagner to just three shots in the third period, pushed their lead to 5-2 with 4:24 showing as Chris Daly (Wynnewood, Pa./Lower Merion) found Keen for the hat trick tally.
Berger assisted on fourth quarter goals by senior Zach Johannes (Sparta, N.J./Pope John XXIII) and sophomore Chris Summer (San Diego, Calif./Westview), his first career score, to push Monmouth ahead 7-2 with 6:52 left.
Monmouth outshot Wagner 32-26 and forced Anthony Peruso to make 15 saves for the Seahawks (1-3).
Fisher added, “Tomorrow is a day off to rest and focus on our studies, but our staff is looking forward to Thursday and getting ready for the Hawks this weekend.”
Monmouth returns to action on Saturday, March 7 when the Hawks travel to Saint Joseph’s University for a 3 p.m., non-conference contest on Sweeney Field.
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