Lehigh University
Georgetown
Mountain Hawks open new home with 3-2 win
9/12/2009 12:00:00 AM | Field Hockey
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BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Playing its first game on the new Ronald J. Ulrich Field, Lehigh rallied from an early deficit to defeat Georgetown 3-2 in its home opener on a soggy Saturday afternoon. Freshman Kim Eng scored two goals and added an assist, including the game-winner in the 54th minute for the Mountain Hawks, who improve to 1-3 on the season. Georgetown falls to 0-5 with the loss.
“Everything we’ve been working on finally came together,” explained Lehigh head coach Julie Mazer. “We attacked well. We defended well. We stayed tough for the entire 70 minutes. It was great to see everything we have worked on come to fruition this afternoon.”
The Mountain Hawks were forced to play from behind after the Hoyas were awarded an early penalty stroke, which Katy Wingo converted for her first goal of the season.
Lehigh utilized a strong penalty corner offense to battle back. In the 20th minute the Mountain Hawks tied the game on their third consecutive corner when senior Lindsey Smith deflected home Eng’s drive for her first goal of the season. The game went to halftime tied at one with Lehigh holding a 6-4 advantage in shots and a 6-2 edge in corners.
Nineteen minutes into the second half, Lehigh’s revamped corner offense struck again, as Eng put the Brown and White in front with a drive for her third goal of the season. Smith and junior Claire Horn added assists on the play. Seven minutes later, the trio teamed up again with Eng depositing another drive in the back of the cage for her second goal of the day and fourth of the season. Again, Smith and Horn were credited with assists on the play as Lehigh took a 3-1 lead.
“Finishing on corners was something we had worked on all week,” said Mazer. “We took a lot of reps and Kim has a strong drive and was able to put two away for us.”
Georgetown pulled within a goal with six and a half minutes to play as Micaela O’Toole scored on a deflection after a Hoya penalty corner, but Lehigh’s defense dug in and put the clamps on to preserve the Mountain Hawks’ first victory of the season.
“We worked on being more organized in the backfield,” said Mazer. “Our decision making was much better and our backs were much better in their outlet passes to start our counter attacks.”
Lehigh finished with an 11-8 advantage in shots and an 11-7 edge in penalty corners. Bolstered by the strong defensive effort in front of her led by Horn and juniors Cassie Willard and Taryn Hartzell, junior goalkeeper Jess Miller needed to make just two saves to earn the win.
Clodagh Coghlan stopped six shots in the cage for Georgetown.
The Mountain Hawks will return to action on Wednesday when they head back on the road to face Saint Francis (Pa.). Game time is set for 4 p.m. from Loretto, Pa.
Lehigh - Georgetown Post-Game Extra!
