Lehigh 8-0 After UC-Davis Win
from press release
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Lehigh jumped out to a
7-1 lead on UC Davis on Tuesday afternoon at the Ulrich Sports
Complex and eventually held on for an 11-9 victory over the
Aggies. With the win Lehigh matches the best start in school
history at 8-0, while visiting UC Davis falls to 6-2.
Sophomore Kelly Draper and junior Lauren Dykstra scored three goals
apiece to lead the Mountain Hawks offense, while Molly Lapolla
found the back of the net four times for the Aggies.
Junior Allison Thomas led Lehigh with eight shots, while Dykstra
was credited with six. The Mountain Hawks scooped up 26
ground balls on the afternoon with Thomas totaling seven.
Thomas also led Lehigh in draw controls with four, while Dykstra,
Leigh Ann Torcivia and Kindall Healy caused a team-high two
turnovers each. Healy also handed out a pair of assists and
freshman ML DiNisco stopped nine shots in goal.
For the Aggies, Lapolla was the leader in shots with six, while
Laura Sunday and Stephanie Guercio were the leaders in ground balls
with five each. Alyse Lasater won two draw controls for UC
Davis and Sunday caused a game-high three turnovers. In goal
for the visitors, Alyssa Cranska stopped 11 shots in 60 minutes of
action.
“I don’t think today was our best effort,” Lehigh
head coach Jill Redfern said afterwards. “You have to
credit UC Davis; they fought hard, they played an aggressive game
and they made the most of their opportunities out
there.” She continued, “I’m happy we won,
but it was certainly not our best performance.”
Gina Hoffmire gave UC Davis an early lead with a goal at the 27:34
mark of the opening half, but from there Lehigh scored seven
straight times to surge in front. Dykstra scored three of the
goals with Draper adding two and Healy and Thomas both scoring
once. Draper scored the final goal of the run with 15:30 left
before halftime on a free position shot as the Mountain Hawks
opened up a 7-1 advantage.
UC Davis refused to go away quietly though as Lapolla netted a pair
of scores and Elizabeth Datino found the back of the net with no
time remaining to send the teams into halftime with Lehigh’s
lead trimmed to three at 7-4.
Lapolla then began the second half with her 17th goal of the season
to make it a two-goal affair, and following Britt
Farquharson’s score with 28:28 on the clock Lehigh was ahead
by just one, 7-6. Thomas stopped the Aggies run with a goal
at the 27:42 mark only to see Vannessa Jamison score her first goal
of the season two minutes later. That again made it a
one-goal game, but Draper and Meg Kelly scored back-to-back goals
for the Mountain Hawks to make the score 10-7 with 13:46 to
play.
Molly Peterson scored for UC Davis with 10:07 to play to make it a
10-8 game, but Lauren Murray got into the act for the Mountain
Hawks as she found the back of the net with 9:30 to go.
Lapolla scored what proved to be the game’s final goal with
6:15 to play, but Lehigh did a terrific job of possessing the ball
down the stretch to hold on for its eighth consecutive victory.
Lehigh will return to action on Saturday afternoon when the
Mountain Hawks step back into Patriot League play with a trip to
Washington, D.C. to take on the American Eagles. The opening
draw control is set for 2:00.
“I thought our focus was weak today,” Redfern
commented. “We also did not protect our sticks very
well. So looking ahead to Saturday, we need to work on
sharpening those things as well as playing much better
defense.”
