OT Win Gives Lehigh Best Start Since '85
from press release
FAIRFIELD, Conn. – Lehigh remained
unbeaten with a dramatic 14-13 double overtime victory over
Fairfield on Tuesday afternoon. Freshman Meg Kelly scored the
game-winner with 2:37 on the clock off an assist from Lauren Murray
to move the Mountain Hawks to 6-0 on the season. Allison
Thomas and Kelly Draper scored three goals apiece for Lehigh, while
Kelly and Anna Patterson added two apiece. Kristen Coleman
led the Stags with four goals as Fairfield falls to 4-2 following
the setback.
Lehigh unleashed 33 shots on the afternoon led by Thomas and
Draper with seven and Inneke Carmola with six. Freshman
Kenzie Dambach scooped up a team-best five ground balls, while
Leigh Ann Torcivia leading the squad in draw controls with
three. Murray was the team leader in assists with three and
Kindall Healy caused three turnovers. Freshman ML DiNisco
went the distance in goal for the Brown and White and stopped ten
shots during that time.
Katie MacKay and Kate Reardon led the home team with seven shots
each while Renee L’Heureux scooped up a team-high six ground
balls. Chloe Mangan and Kelly Barnes were the team leaders in
draw controls with four and Brittany Bare caused three
turnovers. Katie Keenan stopped ten shots in goal for the
Stags and no Fairfield player recorded an assist.
Lehigh took an early 3-1 lead on goals by Dykstra, Thomas and
Patterson. MacKay brought the Stags to within one with a
score at the 26:22 mark, but from there the Mountain Hawks ripped
off five straight scores, including two from Kelly Draper, one from
Healy, one from Carmola and one from Kelly. That made it a
7-2 game with 11:09 to play before halftime. Reardon stopped
Lehigh’s run with a goal at the 10:12 mark but Draper and
Thomas went back-to-back for the Brown and White, making the score
10-3 with seven minutes to play. After two scores by the
Stags Murray closed the half with a goal with 49 ticks on the
clock, sending the teams into halftime with the score 11-5 in favor
of the Mountain Hawks.
Fairfield’s offense caught fire in the early stages of the
second as the Stags scored five straight to close within 11-10 with
16 minutes remaining. Thomas and Patterson scored two
straight to give Lehigh some breathing room at 13-10 but Fairfield
closed regulation with three straight goals, including one from
Coleman with 5:19 to play that ultimately sent the game into
overtime.
After one scoreless extra session the teams headed for a second,
and with 2:37 remaining Kelly took a pass from Murray and beat
Keenan to move Lehigh to 6-0 for the first time since 1985.
