Lehigh University
Villanova
Lehigh falls to tough Villanova squad
10/7/2009 8:00:00 PM | Field Hockey
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BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Lehigh’s two-game winning streak came to an end on Wednesday night at the hands of Villanova as the Wildcats scored six goals in a span of 10:36 in the first half and went on to defeat the Mountain Hawks 10-1 at Ulrich Field. Senior Lindsey Smith netted her third goal of the season but eight different Villanova players found the back of the cage as the Wildcats moved to 7-3 on the season while Lehigh falls to 4-6.
“You have to credit Villanova who was very good tonight,” said Lehigh head coach Julie Mazer. “They were very efficient. We made a lot of unforced errors and they seemed to turn every single error we made into a shot, a goal or a corner.”
Villanova opened the scoring eight minutes in when Meredith Sabatini netted her tenth goal of the season on a feed from Meg Ryan. From there the Wildcats would score five more times in the next 10:36, including two more goals by Sabatini plus goals from Ryan, Dana Ramsden and Ally Smith, who made it 6-0 when she scored her first goal of the season on a Lauren Wuzzardo feed.
The Wildcats added a seventh goal, from Michelle Arfuso at the 27:34 mark, before Smith closed the half for Lehigh by redirecting freshman Kim Eng’s drive off a corner into the cage in the 32nd minute. Villanova out-shot Lehigh 23-2 in the half and carried the 7-1 lead into the break.
“We knew they were lethal in transition from defense to offense,” said Mazer. “They have very good speed up front and gave our defense problems all night.”
In the second half Lehigh was able to increase its offensive chances but was unable to put another goal on the board. Villanova added three more scores in the second half, with Wuzzardo scoring a goal to go with three assists on the night and Sam Haas closing the scoring with a goal at the 56:34 mark.
For the game, Villanova out-shot Lehigh 32-11 and had a slim 14-13 edge in penalty corners.
“We had 13 corners, so we had opportunities to score,” explained Mazer. “We just did not take very good care of the ball.”
Junior Lilia Stefaniwsky made nine saves in 30 minutes of action before giving way to classmate Jess Miller, who stopped six shots in her return to action.
The Mountain Hawks will return to action on Saturday when they resume Patriot League play against Bucknell. Game time is set for 11 a.m. from Ulrich Field and all the action can be seen on Lehighsports.com.
Lehigh - Villanova Post-Game Extra
