Dykstra Keeps Lehigh Women Unbeaten
from press release
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Lehigh rolled all over
archrival Lafayette on Saturday evening by a score of 20-4 at the
Ulrich Sports Complex as the Mountain Hawks used a total team
effort to dominate the Leopards across the board. Junior
Lauren Dykstra totaled nine points on the night, including six
goals and three assists, in a game in which 11 different Mountain
Hawks found the back of the net. With the win Lehigh remains
unbeaten at 7-0 overall and 2-0 in Patriot League play, while the
Leopards fall to 0-8 overall and 0-2 in league action.
The 16-goal margin of victory is the Mountain Hawks’ largest
against Lafayette in school history and it marks the second time in
the last three meetings that Lehigh has scored 20 or more goals
against the Leopards. LU earned a 22-10 victory over its
archrivals in 2008.
Lehigh controlled the game from the start, outshooting the Leopards
49-15 on the evening. Dykstra unleashed 14 of those shots,
while classmate Allison Thomas and sophomore Kelly Draper were
credited with six each. The Mountain Hawks scooped up 36
ground balls, compared to just 12 for Lafayette, with Dykstra
totaling seven and Draper registering six. Draper also caused
a team-best four turnovers on the night, while Thomas was the team
leader in draw controls with six. Freshman ML DiNisco played
the entire first half and stopped three shots in that time before
giving way to senior Kelsy Ferris who sent back five shots in the
second half.
Addie Godfrey led the Leopards with five shot attempts, while
Lauren Brown and Cammie Linville were the team leaders in ground
balls with three apiece. Brown also caused two turnovers and
her two draw controls tied Lauren Curley for tops on the
team. Emily Bjork played the entire game in goal and did all
she could against Lehigh’s potent offense, stopping 20 shots
on the night.
“I’m proud of our team and the effort they gave
tonight,” Lehigh head coach Jill Redfern said
afterwards. “It’s tough to beat Lafayette, but it
was terrific to see our team work together so well and come away
with a convincing win.” She continued, “I was
very happy to see all our attackers score. I thought we
followed the game plan very well, we went hard for the entire game
and we were able to hold their scoring down.”
She concluded, “We played very well together and I think we
showed just how many options we have on offense. We continued
to attack the goal cage all game.”
Ana Drehwing scored the game’s first goal, lifting Lafayette
to an early 1-0 lead less than two minutes into the game, which is
how things remained until the 15:29 mark when Lehigh went to
work. Draper tied things at one with a feed from Inneke
Carmola and then Dykstra gave the Mountain Hawks their first lead
of the night two minutes later. Ashton Hellmuth made it a 3-1
game with a score at the 12:52 mark and back-to-back goals by
Thomas and Meg Kelly in a span of 36 seconds put the Mountain Hawks
in front 5-1 with 11:19 remaining before halftime.
Kelly scored her second goal of the night with 7:58 to play, making
it a 6-1 game and freshman Anna Patterson then got into the act
with a goal 24 seconds later. A free position goal by Dykstra
at the 7:15 mark put Lehigh on top 8-1 and the junior captain added
another score with just over three to play as the Brown and White
opened up an eight-point advantage. Lehigh would score three
more times before intermission with Draper, Dykstra and Kindall
Healy each finding the back of the net in the final 2:42 to send
the Mountain Hawks into halftime with a commanding 12-1 lead.
Dykstra picked up right where she left off in the second with her
20th goal of the season less than two minutes into the half to make
it a 13-1 affair, while Draper’s goal three minutes later
gave Lehigh a 14-1 lead with 25:20 on the clock. Draper added
yet another score, this one with 20:01 to play before Lafayette
finally put a hault to Lehigh’s 15-0 run when Erin Steel
found the back of the net at the 16:28 mark.
Lauren Murray and Carmola scored twice for Lehigh in a span of 2:05
however, and the Mountain Hawks were on top 17-2. Brown beat
Ferris for her 12th score of the season with 10:27 on the clock to
make it a 14-goal game, but Dykstra, Annalise Penikis and Celia
Belmonte all scored to give Lehigh its first 20-goal game since
last season vs. La Salle.
