Lehigh back in action Monday vs. Albany at home
4/11/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Lacrosse
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BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Lehigh gets right back to work on Monday afternoon as the Mountain Hawks welcome a tough Albany squad to the Ulrich Sports Complex for a matinee showdown. Lehigh downed Holy Cross over the weekend by a score of 14-7 as the Mountain Hawks erased an early 4-2 deficit and rode eight unanswered goals to the win. Freshman Meg Kelly led the way with five points for the Brown and White, while juniors Allison Thomas and Lauren Dykstra netted three goals apiece. With her second goal of the game Dykstra moved into sole possession of second place in school annals for career goals and now has 169 scores in her two-plus seasons at Lehigh.
Seven Mountain Hawks have scored ten or more goals this season, led by Dykstra’s 38. The junior captain also paces Lehigh in points with 45, while sophomore Kelly Draper is second on the team in goals (28) and points (41). Thomas has handed out 12 assists and scored 26 goals, while Inneke Carmola (24), Kelly (20), Lauren Murray (13) and Anna Patterson (11) have scored double digit goals.
Sophomore Leigh Ann Torcivia leads Lehigh in ground balls with 34 and draw controls with 32, while Dykstra is second on the team in GBs (33) and Thomas is second in draws (29). Torcivia (14) and Dykstra (10) have caused double digit turnovers and in goal freshman ML DiNisco continues to rank among the national leaders with a goals against average of 7.96. She has also stopped 77 shots in 588 minutes of action.
Albany was last in action on April 7 when the Great Danes downed Stony Brook by a score of 17-5 at home. Albany has lost just once this season, a 17-14 setback at Hofstra in the season opener back on March 1. The Great Danes feature a high powered offense that averages nearly 17 goals per game, led by Kayla Best with 33. Melanie Sosnowski (26), Taylor Frink (25) and Christine Gruenige (23) have also scored more than 20 goals, with Frink leading the team in assists with 15.
Nikki Branchini is the team leader in ground balls with 29 and in draw controls (53) and caused turnovers (16), while Mel Rorie is second on the squad with 15 CTs. In goal for the Great Danes Ashley Ross has seen the majority of the minutes, with nearly 580 to her credit. She has stopped 80 shots during that time and boasts a .567 save percentage.
Lehigh and Albany have never met before in women’s lacrosse. The Great Danes are in their 11th season as a Division I program and have earned three consecutive America East postseason tournament berths.
The Mountain Hawks and Great Danes will get things started at 3:30 on Monday afternoon from the Ulrich Sports Complex. The game will be shown live on Lehighsports.com.
