Lehigh hangs tough with 'Nova before falling
9/23/2007 12:00:00 AM | Field Hockey
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Lehigh got on the board first just 4:18 into the contest when Smith took a pass from Kara Zweizig and beat Villanova goal keeper Maura McCormick to put the home team in front 1-0. Villanova tied the contest at one when Ally Smith scored off of a penalty corner feed from Wuzzardo at the 20:49 clip and the teams were tied at one, which is how they would remain heading into halftime.
Wuzzardo put the Wildcats in front 2-1 at the 40:45 mark off of another penalty corner goal on an assist from Sam Coveleski and Lehigh found itself down 2-1. The Mountain Hawks came right back however, and tied the contest at two when Davies took a feed from Kelly Fox on a nice cut towards the goal and found the back of the net at the 46:47 mark.
Villanova went back in front in the see-saw affair at the 54:13 mark when Allison Boris beat Lehigh goal keeper Jess Miller after Miller had come out of the cage to play the ball. That made the score 3-2 ‘Nova with 16 minutes remaining. The Wildcats added to their lead when Emily Donaldson scored with 13 minutes left on the clock and Wuzzardo all but sealed it when she scored her second goal of the afternoon off of a penalty corner with nine minutes left.
Lehigh head coach Julie Mazer offered her thoughts following the game. “We did a lot of good things today. I saw some things that I liked that we can build upon, but we need to remain composed when things start breaking down.” She added, “We battled a tough Villanova team for the entire game today and we’ll be able to ride that into our league opener next weekend.”
Miller played another solid game in goal for the Brown and White as the first-year keeper sent back 12 shots on the afternoon, while McCormick was credited with six saves for the Wildcats. Villanova outshot Lehigh 18-11 for the game and had 14 penalty corners to the Mountain Hawks five. Davies led Lehigh with six shots on offense, while Wuzzardo led all players with seven shots of her own.
Lehigh returns to action on Saturday evening when the Mountain Hawks host Bucknell in their 2007 Patriot League opener. Game time from the Ulrich Sports Complex is set for 7:00 and all of the action will be broadcast live on Lehighsports.com with streaming powered by Yahoo! Sports.