Lehigh University
La Salle
Mountain Hawks dealt second straight 1-0 setback
9/26/2009 8:15:00 PM | Field Hockey
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BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Lehigh’s defense gave another strong effort but once again a second-half goal proved to be the difference as La Salle handed the Mountain Hawks their second straight 1-0 defeat on a rainy Saturday night at Ulrich Field. The Mountain Hawks held a 15-10 advantage in shots and a slight 9-8edge in penalty corners, but were held off the scoreboard for the second straight game, as Lehigh falls to 2-5 on the season.
Rebecca Chylack scored the only goal of the game at the 47:02 mark for the Explorers, who improve to 4-6 with the victory.
“We had opportunities,” said Lehigh head coach Julie Mazer. “We just couldn’t put the ball in the cage. We had shots and we had a good number of corners. We just have to finish.”
Scoring chances were limited for both teams in the opening 35 minutes. La Salle went in front 12 minutes into the second half when Beth Carey inserted a penalty corner short to Chylack, who shot the ball past junior Lilia Stefaniwsky for her sixth goal of the season.
The Mountain Hawks pushed for a tying goal in the second half, but missed the net on several chances, while Explorer goalkeeper Emma Ruth added four second-half saves.
La Salle had several chances to extend its lead late in the second half, but the Lehigh defense thwarted several penalty corner opportunities. Stefaniwsky made five second-half saves and finished with six on the evening. Juniors Taryn Hartzell and Lauren Cawley added defensive saves for the Brown and White.
“Defensively we were still organized,” explained Mazer. “But we need to do a better job of transitioning our tackles into counterattacking opportunities.”
Freshman Kim Eng once again led the Lehigh offense with seven shots, only one of which was on goal. Hartzell, senior Lindsey Smith and sophomore Madison Ingal added two shots apiece for Lehigh.
Chylack led La Salle with six shots, while Ruth finished with five saves on the night.
The Mountain Hawks return to action on Tuesday night when they host Siena in their final tune-up before Patriot League play begins next weekend. Game time is set for 7 p.m. from Ulrich Field and live video of the contest will be streamed at Lehighsports.com.
Watch Lehigh - La Salle Post-Game Extra
