Dykstra named First-Team All-Region
5/29/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Lacrosse
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BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Sophomore Lauren Dykstra (Mendham, N.J./Morris-Mendham) was named to the 2009 Intercollegiate Women’s Lacrosse Coaches Association (IWLCA) Mid-Atlantic Region First-Team, it was announced on Thursday. The 2009 Patriot League Offensive Player of the Year, Dykstra led the country in ground balls this past season, while ranking fifth in goals and 25th in points. The business major becomes Lehigh’s first All-Region selection since Jill Altshuler in 1996.
“First-Team Regional All-American is a prestigious honor,” Lehigh head coach Jill Redfern commented. “It recognizes Lauren’s outstanding play this season and our overall strength as a program. Our entire team and coaching staff can be proud of this distinctive recognition.”
Dykstra became just the third player in program history to earn Patriot League Offensive Player of the Year accolades, joining Altshuler and former Mountain Hawks head coach Liz Brode ’95. After scoring a Lehigh freshman record 64 goals in 2008, Dykstra surpassed that total this year with 67 scores and her second First-Team All-Patriot League selection. The 67 goals are the third most in a single season in school annals. The Mendham, New Jersey native was named the Patriot League Offensive Player of the Week a league-best four times in 2009, and ranked among the national leaders in goals and points (75).
Dykstra scored six or more goals in three games this season, and netted at least one score in every game, but one. She led the Mountain Hawks in nine statistical categories, including shots, shots on goal, goals, points, ground balls, draw controls, game-winning goals, free-position goals, and caused turnovers, and she ranked first in America in ground balls with 82.
Dykstra was one of 128 student-athletes in Division I named to the All-Regional teams, and she was one of only two sophomores on the Mid-Atlantic First-Team, joining Princeton goal keeper Erin Tochihara. Dykstra was also the lone Patriot League student-athlete to earn First-Team All-Region honors.
