Pictured Above: Freshman
Stephen Dwyer (photo by Bill Sommers II)
Box Score
West Long Branch, NJ – In a physical see-saw battle that featured five lead changes and three ties, it was Monmouth that came up with the final rally, overcoming a 7-6 fourth-quarter deficit with a game-closing 3-0 run to hold off Wagner 9-7 on Tuesday afternoon at Kessler field.
With the loss, the Seahawks absorb their third consecutive defeat, each of which were close, competitive contests. After opening the season with a rousing 7-6 overtime comeback win at Bellarmine, the ensuing three defeats have come by a combined six goals - against Manhattan (11-10), Lafayette (13-10) and now Monmouth (9-7).
Wagner received two goals apiece from senior midfielder
Spencer Kaufman and freshman midfielder
Stephen Dwyer, with Kaufman also adding one assist in recording a team-best three points on the day. Senior attackman
John Norton, on the heels of a three-goal, assist outing last time out on February 11 vs. Lafayette, added two points today which came on a pair of assists.
Others who hit the scoring column for the Seahawks on this day, hitting for one goal apiece, included junior midfielder
Tim Schmidt, senior attackman
Davis Prince, and junior attackman
Dominic Branda.
But it wasn't enough to overcome a Monmouth offensive surge that saw Zach Clemente and Cade Stratton combine for six goals, a game-high four from Clemente, and two from Stratton.
Kaufman's first goal, which came with just 11 seconds remaining into the opening quarter, put the Seahawks on top 2-1 entering quarter number two. The Merrick, NY native struck again with an unassisted tally early in the second to extend the Wagner lead to 3-1.
Stratton got one back at the 10:46 mark to make it a 3-2 game, and that's the way things stood until the Seahawks reeled off consecutive unassisted scores from, Dwyer and Schmidt, in the final 3:25 of the half in surging to a 5-2 lead at the break.
Monmouth quickly closed the gap following the intermission on back-to-back momentum-gaining scores from Clemente Brock and Anderson, both coming in the first 2:06 of the second half, cutting the Seahawk lead to 5-4. Then, at the 7:12 mark of the third, Clemente completed a 3-0 run with an unassisted blast that forged the game's second tie at 5-5.
Branda briefly put Wagner back into the lead, 6-5, with a man-up goal off a Norton feed with 5:01 remaining in the third, before Clemente then found the net for MU with an unassisted score at the 1:39 mark as the teams headed to the pivotal final frame knotted at 6-6.
After Monmouth was flagged for a cross-check at the 10:23 mark, Davis gave Wagner its second man-up goal, this one off a Kaufman assist, to put the Seahawks back on top by a 7-6 count.
This would prove to be Wagner's last lead of the game, however, as the Hawks rallied with goals from Stratton (8:35), Jake Wilson (3:55), and Garrett Klurman (3:37), in fashioning the 9-7 comeback win.
Statistically, the Seahawks dominated the game across the board, holding significant advantage in shots (36-24) and ground balls (31-20). The Green & White also converted on 2-of-5 man-up opportunities, while limiting the Hawks to 0-of-2 in EMO's on the other end.
Junior
Nick Warren held the upper hand in the faceoff department, as he and Monmouth's Ian Weinberg took all 18 combined faceoffs for their respective teams, with Warren garnering 11 of those for a .579 winning percentage.
Sophomore
Dan Baker collected a team-high six groundballs while sophomore
Kyle Stofko delivered his typical brand of stout defense, coming away with a team-leading four caused turnovers.
In goal, senior
Matt Sefcik, who entered the game ranked 19
th nationally in saves per game (13.0), and 25
th iin goals against average (9.87), turned away 10 shots, as did Monmouth's goalie Noah Lode.
In this tough, intense contest, the teams were whistled for a combined eight penalties, six on Monmouth and two on the Seahawks. Of the eight penalties, five were of the one-minute variety (three on Monmouth, two on Wagner).
Today's game was a homecoming of sorts for Wagner first-year head coach
Bill McCutcheon who, before being tabbed the Seahawks' head man last October, served five seasons as an assistant at Monmouth under Hawks' head coach Brian Fisher.
The Green & White are back at it on Saturday, March 2 when they play host to Dartmouth, with faceoff at Hameline Field between the Seahawks and their counterparts from the Ivy League set for 12:00 p.m.
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