MU soccer teams in good shape heading into NEC play

After entering the season amid high expectations, the Monmouth University men's soccer team has certainly looked the part of a championship-caliber team.

The three-time defending Northeast Conference regular-season champs have looked sharp early on, playing to a 6-2-1 mark. The Hawks beat Columbia, 3-0, on Oct. 1, behind two goals from sophomore Chase Barbieri, including his fifth game-winner of the season, to notch their fifth straight win.

After a season-opening 1-0 loss to Seton Hall, the Hawks bounced back, putting together a seven-game unbeaten streak — justifying the lofty expectations that had MU as the favorite to claim a fourth straight NEC title.

Following the win over Columbia, head coach Robert McCourt praised his team's focus.

"We continue to push for 90 minutes of complete soccer, and I felt today was a positive step towards that," he said. "Top-tobottom, we were committed to the cause today and we got the result we thought we deserved against a very solid club."

The Hawks got on the board when senior Chris Riordan played ball down to sophomore Ryan Kinne who slipped the ball down the right side to Barbieri, who beat the keeper to the far post 11:04 into the match, the earliest MU has scored all season, for the 1-0 lead. Then, in the 27th minute, junior Dan Bostock headed the ball off a corner kick that was saved, but Barbieri came in and put away the rebound for his seventh goal of the season to increase MU's advantage to 2-0.

The score remained 2-0 until the 55th minute, when freshman George Quintano (of Manalapan) played the ball through to Kinne who beat the keeper for his fifth marker of the year. The Hawks outshot the Lions 15-10, including 8-3 in the first half, while Columbia held a 5-4 advantage on corner kicks.

Sophomore keeper Bryan Meredith recorded his sixth straight shutout, making two saves in the win.

"Overall, I thought this was our best effort, start to finish, all year," said Kinne. "Today we came out strong against a team that beat nationally-ranked UC-Santa Barbara, and that's great for us."

Unfortunately, the Hawks' winning streak came to an end on Sunday, when the Hawks dropped a 2-0 affair to St. Peter's.

Early on, it appeared as if the Hawks were well on their way to their seventh win of the year, as MU controlled much of the first half's action as the match went into intermission scoreless. The Hawks outshot Saint Peter's 3-1 in the first half and also had two corner kicks, compared to none for the visitors in the match's first 45 minutes.

The match remained scoreless until the 73rd minute when Udi Naim scored from 25 yards out to give the Peacocks a 1-0 lead. Less than 10 minutes later, SPC struck again when Chris DeAbreu played the ball ahead to Braulio Constantino who scored to increase their lead to 2-0 in the 83rd minute.

St. Peter's first goal snapped MU's sixmatch shutout streak, a run that included keeping the opposition scoreless for 654:01 of game action. Senior Andreas Klang, came off the bench to register a pair of shots on goal for Monmouth to lead the offense and freshman Max Hamilton also got two shots off.

The Hawks actually outshot St. Peter's, 6-4, and held a 3-0 advantage on corner kicks. In the loss, Meredith had his sixmatch shutout streak snapped as well, made one save while his counterpart, Matthew Lawlor of SPC, made four saves.

With his seven goals and one assist, Barbieri has been the team's top offensive performer thus far, while Kinne is close behind with five goals and four assists. Those two have done the bulk of the scoring for the Hawks, who will be looking for more offensive output from players like Quintano, senior Rob LaRocca (a CBA grad from Holmdel) and Hamilton.

McCourt knew that his offense would be a bit of a work-in-progress this season, after graduating two of the top players in the program's history in Damon Wilson (seven goals, six assists) and Tom Gray (six goals, four assists).

However, the Hawks strength is its defense, which returns the core of a group that allowed a league-low .74 goals per game a year ago.

Monmouth women also looking strong

The Monmouth men aren't the only team that has been flexing its muscles thus far.

The MU women's soccer team has been every bit as impressive through 11 games, clearly establishing itself as the team to beat in the NEC.

The Hawks latest victory, a 3-2

overtime win over Fairleigh Dickinson, proved just how explosive this team can be. It also spoke to their resiliency, and refusal to go down without a fight.

The Hawks rallied from a 2-0 first half deficit, to claim the overtime victory, netting three unanswered goals in the second half and overtime to improve to 6-0 at home, and 9-1-1 overall. Monmouth senior forward Joanne DeMoor the equalizer in the 89th minute and the game-winner, just 3:20 into the extra session, to pace the Hawks, who are unbeaten in their last eight matches.

"We showed a lot of heart today in battling back from a 2-0 deficit," said head coach Krissy Turner. "I am very proud of our team and how we responded."

Trailing by two goals late in the second half, junior Allessandra DeTata (of Brick) trimmed the lead in half, when the midfielder pounded in a shot off sophomore Mary Wilks' throw-in service.

DeMoor knotted the score at 2-2, when the senior was fed a pass wide down the left flank by freshman Courtney Snyder circled around the ball, and lifted a shot on frame from a tough angle, which caught FDU netminder Megan MacKellar off her line, and found the far netting.

Snyder crossed the ball into the box, which DeMoor nodded in for her team-leading seventh goal of the year, and fourth game-winner, at 93:20.

Monmouth outshot FDU, 17-12 in the contest, forcing MacKellar to make four saves. Sophomore Lia Fierro made two saves in goal for the Hawks, while improving her mark to 8- 1-1 on the year. The Hawks also held a 13-6 edge in corner kicks.