Mountain Hawks set to host Lafayette on Thursday
3/25/2004 12:00:00 AM | Women's Lacrosse
Lehigh welcomes archrival Lafayette to the Ulrich Sports Complex on Thursday evening in a matchup of Patriot League foes. Both teams are coming off of losses in their last games and will be searching for their first league win of the season. Despite hat tricks from both Kellan Van Hoesen and Barrie Cominsky in its last game, Lehigh fell to American on March 20 in Washington, D.C. by a score of 15-10. The Mountain Hawks had built a 9-4 advantage at halftime, but surrendered 11 second half goals and were unable to mount a comeback. Lehigh currently sits at 2-3 overall this season and 0-1 in Patriot League action.
Van Hoesen discusses the American game and also the team’s current state: “The team looks solid as a whole, and it is just a matter of remaining that way for the full game. We had an amazing run against American last weekend but lost it in the second half. It was disappointing but it was nice to see what we are really capable of. I honestly believe the team is taking it one game at a time and preparing for each game in its own unique way.”
Cominsky leads the team in scoring so far this season with 11 goals, and has also recorded five assists, good for a team leading 16 points in the early going. Ella Studdiford has also provided a potent offensive punch, netting seven goals thus far and also adding five assists. Lehigh is averaging over 11 goals per game, while allowing 12 per contest. Senior co-captain Rebecca Morley leads the team in groundballs with 19 for an average of 3.8 per game. Kyle Begina has seen the most action in between the pipes for the Mountain Hawks, registering 35 saves on the season, while recording a save percentage of .479. Head Coach Jim Shreve gives his views on tonight's contest: "The Lafayette game always brings with it a sense of excitement and high anticipation. The girls have prepared hard. We have had some good practices lately and now it is a matter of going out and executing all the different phases of our game." Shreve continues, "The keys for us tonight are controlling the draws and winning the ground balls. We need to possess the ball and we will get our opportunities offensively." Shreve adds, "On the defensive side we must stop Jen Stone, one of the Patriot League's best. We also need to reduce our fouling which was a problem for us in the American game. I expect a close game with the high emotions of this rivalry. The team that wins the draws and the ground balls and makes the least mistakes defensively will most likely win."
Van Hoesen believes that tonight’s game will bring out the best in her and her teammates. “Rivalries will always make the game more intense, motivating and desirable. Lately in practice I have seen rises in people that I have never seen before and hopefully that adrenaline will be carried over into tonight’s game. Both teams have amazing players and talent, but the winners that walk off the field tonight will be the ones that wanted it more.”
Lafayette comes to Bethlehem with a record of 1-5 overall and 0-1 in the Patriot League. The Leopards were defeated by the University of Connecticut on Tuesday afternoon in Storrs by a score of 14-4. Scoring goals for Lafayette was Kim Maron, Kaleigh Mountain, Lindsay Butera and Jenninfer Stone. In last season’s game between these archrivals, Lehigh defeated Lafayette by a score of 10-9 in double overtime. Sophomore Jen Fleming scored a goal with just over four seconds remaining to lift the Mountain Hawks to the victory. The win was Lehigh’s first in the series between these interstate rivals since the 1999 season. Thursday’s game gets underway at 7:00 from Lehigh’s Ulrich Sports Complex. All of the action can be heard live on Lehigh’s website at lehighsports.com.
