Black Knights Fight for Season-Opening Road Win

Saturday, February 10

West Long Branch, NJ

12 pm

Army West Point

1-0

Monmouth

0-1

Team	1	2	Final F
Army West Point	5	7	12
Monmouth	4	5	9

Black Knights Fight for Season-Opening Road Win

February 10, 2018 | Women's Lacrosse

Box Score

WEST LONG BRANCH, N.J. – The Army West Point women's lacrosse team battled to a 12-9 season-opening victory on the road Saturday afternoon at Monmouth's Kessler Stadium.

After allowing the first goal of the contest, Army netted four-straight goals to go up 4-1 with 15:50 remaining in the first half. That run was fueled by a pair of tallies by Amy Johnston, separated by just 44 seconds. Rachel Hornick assisted the senior co-captain on both tallies.

After trading free position goals, the home side scored two goals in the final 2:40 of the opening period to cut Army's lead to 5-4 at the break. Army won the opening draw of the second half and picked up the offensive ground ball, a turnover led to the game-tying goal for the Hawks.

Army countered with a go-ahead, man-up goal at the 27:10 remaining in the game. That edge would stand for the rest of the game as the Black Knights did not relinquish the lead for the rest of the contest. Monmouth worked the score to 7-6 before a 4-1 scoring streak from the Cadets put the game out of reach.

Johnston was one of three Cadets with multiple goals on the day, along with Manuela Cortes' game-high four goals and rookie Megan Raftery notching her first two collegiate goals. Cortes documented the team's first hat trick of the season and eighth of her career, capping it with a free position tally with 13:52 left.

Hornick posted a team-high two helpers, while Samantha Stewart and Maddie Miller closed out the group of Army players with multiple points with a goal and an assist apiece. Rilee Scott and first-year Jackie Brattan also added tallies in the win.

In net, second-year goalie Maddie Burns made eight saves on 17 shots and added a caused turnover and a ground ball.

ARMY HIGHLIGHTS AND GAME NOTES

The Black Knights won their second-consecutive season-opener after claiming a 13-12 victory over Marist to start last season.
This was the first meeting between the two squads since Army became a varsity program in 2016.
Cortes recorded her eighth hat trick in the game and first of the season.
Johnston became the second player in program history to eclipse the 50 goal and 75 point plateaus in her career.
The Black Knights held advantages in shots (31-26), ground balls (20-18), draw controls (13-10) and free position shots (11-8).

WHAT'S THE WORD?

Noto Family Head Women's Lacrosse Coach Kristen Skiera – "I'm really proud of the team for battling it out against a tough opponent on the road to start the season. We had a really focused and sharp week of practice leading up to today's game, and I'm happy that it translated to a strong start. We weathered some first game decision making errors, but made up for it with relentless intensity and physical play. I also saw lots of promising things on our defensive end. Maddie Burns was exceptional in the cage, and Nia Crump and Lauren Bredenberg contained big matchups throughout the game. On the offensive end, everyone was a threat and drove to the goal confidently."

Jr. midfielder Manuela Cortes – "It was awesome to see that our team was able to keep the momentum we left last season with. As a team, we executed our game plan well on all sides of the game and our freshmen did a good job in their first Army lacrosse game. I'm excited for our upcoming games because we still have a lot to accomplish this year!"

So. goalie Maddie Burns – "It was electric. The excitement was palpable throughout the game. We were very solid on defense from the start which is phenomenal for the first game. Our communication was clear, and our one-on-ones were well executed. In addition, our offense was able to fight off the high-pressured Monmouth defense and created momentum. All in all, we were prepared, and it felt great."

Jr. defender Nia Crump – "It feels absolutely amazing to open our third season with a victory over Monmouth. We played with high energy from the opening draw to the final buzzer, and winning 12-9 was just icing on the cake. After such a challenging and fun preseason, it was nice to see our hard work pay off on the field today. We look forward to getting back out there on Monday afternoon to continue to work hard and prepare to fight for a win against Marist at home."

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