Lehigh University
No. 1 American
Lehigh upended by American in P.L. Tournament
11/6/2009 12:00:00 AM | Field Hockey
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WASHINGTON, D.C. – Lehigh had its hands full with the Patriot League regular season champion American Eagles on Friday morning as the fourth-seeded Mountain Hawks fell to the top seed 7-1 in the semifinals of the 2009 Patriot League Tournament. Senior Lindsey Smith scored Lehigh’s lone goal while the Eagles used a five-goal first half to earn a spot in Saturday’s championship. With the loss the Mountain Hawks’ 2009 season comes to an end with a record of 6-11 while American ups its record to 10-8.
American jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead less than six minutes into the game as Christine Fingerhuth and Melissa Casale netted goals for the Eagles. Three more scores from AU gave the home team a 5-0 lead at intermission. Lilia Stefaniwsky got the start in goal for the Brown and White and sent back three first half shots as the Eagles fired off 11 attempts. The Mountain Hawks totaled just two shots in the opening 35 minutes and one penalty corner.
Kelsey Davis scored the first two goals of the second half to up American’s lead to 7-0 before Smith put Lehigh on the board with a goal at the 68:18 mark. Taryn Hartzell assisted on the goal, her first helper of the season.
The Mountain Hawks were credited with two shots in the second half and two penalty corners, with Jess Miller stopping nine shots in goal after relieving Stefaniwsky at halftime. American’s Alyssa Poorman started the game in goal for the Eagles but did not record any saves before giving way to Hannah Weitzman.
Abby Tilton led the Brown and White with two shots on the day, while Smith and Patriot League Rookie of the Year Kim Eng had one each.
“We had trouble possessing the ball out of the backfield and I thought American did a great job of capitalizing on our unforced errors whether it was a corner or a goal,” Lehigh head coach Julie Mazer said afterwards.
She continued, “American was moving at a different pace than we were. We played better in the second half with Jess Miller coming in and playing great for the last 35 minutes. We kept fighting and never gave up. American is a great team but it is frustrating because we certainly could have played better today.”
American will take on the winner of the Bucknell-Lafayette semifinal for the 2009 Patriot League title.
Lehigh - American Post-Game Extra
