Lehigh University
Holy Cross
Lehigh can't climb out of early hole vs. Holy Cross
10/25/2008 2:00:00 PM | Field Hockey
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BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Down by four goals after 14 minutes of play, Lehigh mounted a furious second half rally that fell just short as the Mountain Hawks fell 4-3 to Holy Cross on a rain-soaked Saturday afternoon at the Ulrich Sports Complex. Junior Kelly Fox and sophomore Lauren Cawley each netted a goal and an assist for Lehigh, but several clutch saves by the Holy Cross defense propelled the Crusaders to their first Patriot League victory.
The loss drops Lehigh to 3-12 overall and 0-4 in the Patriot League, while Holy Cross is now 5-10, 1-3 in league games.
“We just didn’t play at the level we needed to for the full 70 minutes,” said Lehigh head coach Julie Mazer. “At this junction of the season, it’s inexcusable for us not to play a full game. Starting with the final 10 minutes of the first half we played much better and put ourselves back in the game, but we can’t afford to not play for the full 70 minutes and expect to win.”
Kristin Schulz opened the scoring for the Crusaders with a goal 1:41 into the first half. Over the next 12 minutes, goals from Kara Gonnerman, Breezy Rush and Alanna Sikorski extended the Holy Cross lead to 4-0.
Lehigh’s offense finally showed signs of life in the 29th minute as junior Julie Kuhns scored her first goal of the season, on a feed from Cawley to bring the Mountain Hawks within three. The Brown and White also had two penalty corner chances in the final seconds of the half, but after failing to score remained down three goals at the break.
In the second half, the Mountain Hawks crept within one with a pair of goals in a span of two minutes. Fox netted her team-leading seventh of the season off a feed from sophomore Katey Fardelmann at the 46:19 mark, and then off a penalty corner, Cawley scored her second of the year on a rocket strike, with Fox and junior Lindsey Smith earning assists on the play.
Lehigh continued pressing for an equalizer and had a golden opportunity as Fox fired towards an empty cage, but Kaitlyn Barnes stepped in and knocked the ball out of mid-air for a defensive save which kept the visitors out in front.
The statistics favored the Brown and White as Lehigh out shot Holy Cross 26-14 and had a 13-7 edge in penalty corners. Cawley led all players with nine shots, including seven on goal, while Fox added six for Lehigh.
Holy Cross goalkeeper Erin Singleton did her part to keep her team ahead, with 13 saves. Sophomore Jessica Miller made two saves in 14:24 of action before giving way to Lilia Stefaniwsky, who stopped three shots on the afternoon.
The Mountain Hawks will be back in action on Tuesday when they travel to Philadelphia to take on the 16th-ranked Drexel Dragons. Game time is set for 7 p.m.
