Lehigh Dominates HC for 10th Win of Season
from press release
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Lehigh took a big step
towards clinching a berth in the upcoming Patriot League Tournament
as the Mountain Hawks downed Holy Cross 14-7 on Saturday afternoon
at the Ulrich Sports Complex. Freshman Meg Kelly scored five
points on the day as she netted four goals and handed out an
assist, while juniors Allison Thomas and Lauren Dykstra scored
three goals apiece to help lift the Mountain Hawks to their tenth
win of the season. With her three goals, Dykstra moves to
second in school history with 169 career scores. Lehigh is
now 3-1 in the Patriot League while visiting Holy Cross falls to
4-9 following the setback and 1-3 in league action.
“I thought this was a really nice full team
performance,” Lehigh head coach Jill Redfern said
afterwards. “We had a bit of a slow start but I thought
we pulled away nicely. We really dominated the final few
minutes of the first half which allowed us to build a comfortable
lead.”
Redfern then commented on the play of Megan Kelly and Allison
Thomas. “Meg Kelly had a really nice game today for
us. She has great quickness and I thought she really shot the
ball well today. Her adjustment to the college game is
starting to come around; she’s reading the goal keeper very
well and her confidence is building by the day.” She
continued, “Allison Thomas had a great game, as well.
It was great to see her perform the way she did today; she’s
been struggling a little of late, so this was a big confidence
boost for her.”
Lehigh outshot the Crusaders 32-18 on the afternoon and scooped up
16 ground balls to Holy Cross’ 11. Sophomore Leigh Ann
Torcivia did a little of everything for the Brown and White with
three ground balls, three draw controls and one caused turnover,
while Dykstra caused a team best four turnovers, won three draw
controls and scooped up two ground balls. Freshman Julie
McBrien won two draw controls and caused two turnovers, while
sophomore Kelly Draper led the Mountain Hawks with four draw
controls. Freshman ML DiNisco played all 60 minutes in goal
for Lehigh and sent back nine shots during that time, including
seven in the final 30 minutes.
Catherine Furman led the visitors with four ground balls, while
Megan Fenton scooped up two. Annie Boylan won two draw
controls and four different Crusaders caused one turnover.
Katie Gardner was the high scorer for Holy Cross with five points,
including three goals and two assists, while Fenton also dished out
two assists. Amy Martin received the start in goal and
stopped nine shots in 54 minutes of action, while Allison Donovan
played six minutes in relief.
Sophomore Lauren Murray put Lehigh on top with a goal 55 seconds
into the game, but Garnder answered for Holy Cross with
back-to-back scores to make it a 2-1 game with 24 minutes remaining
before halftime. Taylor Zebrowski then netted her first goal
of the afternoon and Lehigh found itself down 3-1 with 21:54 on the
clock.
Dykstra got on the board for the first time with 19:48 remaining
in the opening half to make it a 3-2 game, but Ali Baird responded
for the Crusaders with a goal of her own at the 18:17 mark and the
visitors went in front 4-2. From there Lehigh came to life
and shut the Crusaders out for the next 35 minutes of play.
Kelly scored back-to-back goals to tie things at four with 15:05 to
go before halftime and senior captain Inneke Carmola got into the
scoring act with her goal at the 6:05 mark to put Lehigh on top
6-5.
Thomas netted all three of her scores in the final 4:48 of the
first half, including one on a free position shot with just three
ticks to go, sending the Mountain Hawks into halftime with an 8-4
advantage.
Lehigh’s momentum continued into the second half as Murray
scored her 13th goal of the season with 18:17 to play to put the
Brown and White up by five. Dykstra then became
Lehigh’s second leading goal scorer in school annals when she
scored on a free position shot with 13:10 remaining to put the
Mountain Hawks in front 10-4. The goal was Dykstra’s
168th of her career, which moved the New Jersey native past former
Lehigh standout Carla Juliani, who scored 167 goals from
1985-88. Kat Sutton pulled the Crusaders to within 10-6 with
back-to-back scores, but freshman Anna Patterson gave Lehigh an
11-6 lead with her score at the 9:33 mark.
Gardner scored her third goal of the game with 8:55 to play but
Lehigh continued to keep the pressure on and scored three more
times, including two from Kelly and one from Dykstra as the
Mountain Hawks won their tenth game of the season. Lehigh has
now registered double-digit victories in three consecutive seasons
for the first time in program history.
Lehigh doesn’t get much time to relax as the Mountain Hawks
return to action on Monday afternoon when they host a tough Albany
squad at the Ulrich Sports Complex. The opening draw control
is set for 3:30 and all of the action will be broadcast live on
Lehighsports.com.
“Today was nice to not only get the league win but to also
build momentum for Monday,” Redfern explained.
“Albany is a very strong team and we’re going to need
to be ready for them when they come to town.’
