Lehigh looks for tourney berth on Senior Day
4/16/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Lacrosse
 |
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – This Saturday promises to feature an action-packed lacrosse game as Lehigh will be taking on the Midshipmen of Navy in the Mountain Hawks final home game of the season at the Ulrich Sports Complex beginning at 1 p.m. This will be Senior Day for the Mountain Hawks with a special ceremony set to take place just minutes before the opening draw control. Lehigh, who is currently 3-1 in the Patriot League and in second place, has a great deal riding on this game. If the Mountain Hawks beat Navy, who is sitting in first place in the P.L. at 4-0, they will clinch a berth in the upcoming Patriot League Tournament.
The Brown and White will be ready to pack a punch when it faces Navy on Saturday. Junior Lauren Dykstra, who scored three goals against Navy during the last regular season meeting, has already scored 43 goals this season, and will be hungry for more against Navy. Six other Mountain Hawks, including Kelly Draper (31), Allison Thomas (29), Inneke Carmola (27), Meg Kelly (21), Lauren Murray (15) and Anna Patterson (11) have scored double digit goals with Draper leading Lehigh in assists with 14. Dykstra and Draper are currently the fourth highest goal scoring tandem in all of Division I. Freshman Celia Belmonte stepped into the starting lineup in the Mountain Hawks 17-13 win over Albany on Monday and responded with one assist, one ground ball and two draw controls.
Dykstra also leads the Mountain Hawks in ground balls with 36, while sophomore Leigh Ann Torcivia is second on the squad with 35. Torcivia continues to lead Lehigh in draw controls (33) and caused turnovers (14), while freshman Julie McBrien has added 20 ground balls, 16 DCs and eight caused turnovers. Senior goal keeper Kelsy Ferris earned her third win of the season in the victory over Albany as she sent back 12 shots to raise her season total to 36, while freshman ML DiNisco has seen the majority of the minutes in goal for the Brown and White and stopped 79 shots during that time.
Navy will be preparing to face Lehigh with a four-game-winning streak under its belts, including a 15-14 defeat of American on April 7. The Midshipmen will be coming to Lehigh with some heavy arsenal, led by senior captain Erin Rawlick. Rawlick won four consecutive P.L. Offensive Player of the Week awards earlier this season and is among the national leaders with 58 goals. She also leads her team with 26 assists. Danielle Vivonetto combines with Rawlick to give Navy the highest scoring tandem in the nation as Vivonetto has found the back of the net 50 times and totaled 55 points. Kierstin King leads the Midshipmen with 41 ground balls, while Rawlick has won an incredible 73 draw controls.
Five Midshipmen have caused at least ten turnovers, led by King’s 25 and then there’s goalkeeper Charlotte Hauser who has a save percentage of .667, which leads the Patriot League.
The last time these two teams faced off during a regular season match Lehigh took home the win 11-7 in Annapolis. But the Mountain Hawks fell short during the postseason when they played Navy in the semifinal game of the 2009 Patriot League Tournament, falling 12-11 against the Midshipmen. The only other time the squads faced off was in 2008 when Lehigh downed Navy 15-12 at home.
The match should be an intense battle as Lehigh fights its way for a seat in the tournament. Lehigh’s next game will be away versus Colgate in Hamilton, New York on Saturday, April 24.
Story written by Dari’ Brooks ‘10
Lehigh - Navy Preview
