Lehigh seeks third straight win Saturday vs. Rider
9/19/2008 2:00:00 PM | Field Hockey
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BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Lehigh returns to the turf in search of its third straight victory on Saturday as the Mountain Hawks play host to the Rider Broncs. The contest will be the last at the Ulrich Sports Complex for nearly a month, as Lehigh will be on the road in each of the next three weekends. The Mountain Hawks will be looking to continue the momentum from Wednesday night’s 3-0 win over Saint Francis, arguably the team’s most impressive performance all-around performance so far this season.
Junior Lindsey Smith delivered the game winning goal against the Red Flash, with a brilliant stick handling display through the Saint Francis defense which resulted in her first goal of the season. The Red Flash threatened in the second half, but Lehigh staved off four penalty corner opportunities and the Mountain Hawks added unassisted goals from freshmen Caitlin Donnelly and Madison Ingal late to earn their first shutout since 2005. Both of Lehigh’s sophomore goalkeepers saw action on Wednesday night. Lilia Stefaniwsky made one save to earn the win, and Jess Miller stopped four shots in her 35 minutes of action.
Rider enters Saturday’s game at 2-4 overall this season. The Broncs have won two straight games after starting the season 0-3, including a 3-2 victory over West Chester on Wednesday night. Senior Tricia Crotty scored all three goals for Rider, and leads the Broncs with five on the season. Diana Celebre and Allison Vogel are the only other Broncs to find the back of the cage so far this season. Junior Lyndsie Johnson has played every minute in the goal cage and holds a 2.55 goals-against average.
Saturday’s game marks the 28th straight year that these schools have met in field hockey. Lehigh leads the series 17-11-1 and carries a two-game winning streak over Rider into the game. Last year Kalynn Davies and Kelly Fox scored two goals apiece to lead the Mountain Hawks past the Broncs 4-2, here in Bethlehem.
Game time is set for 5 p.m. from the Ulrich Sports Complex and all the action can be seen on Lehighsports.com with streaming powered by Yahoo! Sports College Broadcast.
