Lehigh continues home stand against La Salle
9/25/2009 10:30:00 AM | Field Hockey
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BETHLEHEM, Pa. – The Lehigh field hockey team returns to the turf in search of its third win of the season on Saturday as the Mountain Hawks take on the LaSalle Explorers. Saturday’s game will be the second game of a seven-game home stand for the Brown and White. The Mountain Hawks are coming off a tough battle against Cornell on Sunday, where despite a strong defensive effort, Lehigh could not overcome the Big Bed who prevailed 1-0, dropping the Mountain Hawks to 2-4 on the season.
Lehigh will look to bounce back this weekend against the Explorers with freshman Kimberly Eng, Lehigh’s top offensive threat, leading the way. Even though the Brown and White’s offense was shut down by the Big Red defense on Sunday, Eng tallied five of the Mountain Hawks’ seven shots including four shots on goal in the first half. Her back-to-back game-winning goal performances against Georgetown and Saint Francis, along with her efforts against Cornell have earned the freshman two straight Patriot League Rookie of the Week awards. Eng leads the Mountain Hawks with 5 goals and 3 assists (13 points) and a total of 23 shots on goal so far for the season.
In the cage for the Mountain Hawks, junior Lilia Stefaniwsky has come up big in the team’s last two games recording seven saves against St. Francis and 11 saves in a losing effort against Cornell.
Lehigh’s opponent, LaSalle, comes into Saturday’s matchup at 3-6 this season. The Explorers are looking to break their two game losing streak after falling to Patriot League member Bucknell last Friday 3-2, and to Lock Haven on Sunday 4-2. LaSalle’s Rebecca Chylack has been the star for the Explorers so far this season, earning two Rookie of the Week awards in the Atlantic 10, including two goals, an assist and two defensive saves in two games for LaSalle last week. Chylack leads the team with five goals and 13 points this season. Defensively, Emma Ruth has played every minute of every game in the cage for La Salle, making 66 saves and owning a 2.15 goals-against average.
The all-time series between the two programs have been close, with Lehigh holding a 14-11 advantage with two ties. La Salle won last year’s meeting 2-0 in Philadelphia, but the Mountain Hawks have won the last six games played in Bethlehem.
Saturday’s game gets underway at 7 p.m. under the lights at Ulrich Field.
