Lehigh collects two awards; six named All-League
4/28/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Lacrosse
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BETHLEHEM, Pa. – After capturing its first Patriot League regular season championship since 1994, the Lehigh women’s lacrosse team was rewarded for its efforts in a big way on Wednesday as junior captain Lauren Dykstra was named the Defensive Player of the Year, Jill Redfern was named the Coach of the Year and six Mountain Hawks earned spots on the All-League Teams. Dykstra was joined on the First Team by classmate Allison Thomas and sophomores Kelly Draper and Leigh Ann Torcivia, while freshmen Kenzie Dambach and Julie McBrien were named to the Second Team.
Dykstra continues to add to her impressive collection of accolades as she earns her third straight major award from the Patriot League. The 2008 Rookie of the Year, Dykstra was honored with the Offensive Player of the Year award a year ago and is now the first women’s lacrosse student-athlete in league history to capture the Offensive and Defensive Player of the Year awards. Dykstra is also Lehigh’s first-ever Defensive Player of the Year in women’s lacrosse.
This marks the third consecutive season in which Dykstra was named to the All-League First-Team as well. A native of New Jersey, Dykstra’s on-field role changed this season but she did not miss a beat in terms of production. The Management major anchored Lehigh’s young defense and dominated the midfield through Lehigh’s ride. On two occasions Dykstra had a hand in ending a pair of the nation’s longest scoring streaks. In Lehigh’s win over Albany on April 12 Dykstra shut out Kayla Best, who had scored a goal in 56 straight games, and five days later Dykstra held Navy’s Erin Rawlick, the nation’s leading goal scorer to zero goals, which snapped Rawlick’s 50-game scoring streak.
For the season Dykstra has scored 51 goals, which is second best in the Patriot League, and added seven assists. In addition she has scooped up 41 ground balls, won 34 draw controls and caused 12 turnovers. Dykstra has caused multiple turnovers in four games, including a season best four in Lehigh’s win over Holy Cross, and she has scored three or more goals ten times.
Redfern collects her first Coach of the Year award at Lehigh, but the second of her coaching career. The Mountain Hawks mentor also received the honor in 2000 when she led Lafayette to the P.L. crown. She is the third Lehigh coach to receive the award, joining Liz Brode (2007) and Jackie Keeley (1994). “This is truly a team award,” Redfern explained. “A lot of the credit goes to the terrific people around me, including our assistants Kelley Putnam and Erin Goodman who have done an incredible job all season long as well as our strength coach Eric Markovcy and Tim Doane, our athletic trainer. They are all largely responsible for our success this season.”
She continued, “We are very happy that Lauren (Dykstra) was recognized for the strong season she has had as well as each of the girls who received All-League recognition. As I mentioned before though, these are truly team awards. Our girls have been a team from day one and these awards would not be possible without the efforts of our entire team and many outstanding individual performances throughout the season. This team will not be satisfied until they have achieved their collective goal of winning a Patriot League championship.”
Joining Dykstra on the All-League First-Team is classmate Allison Thomas, who earns her third straight All-League honor and first First-Team accolade. Thomas has scored 33 goals and handed out 14 assists this season, while totaling 36 ground balls, a team-best 38 draw controls and six caused turnovers. She ranks ninth in the Patriot League in assists and points and fifth in draw controls.
Thomas has scored three or more goals in six games this season, including a season best four at American. Her season high in ground balls is six, which came in the opener versus Mount St. Mary’s and she won a season best six draw controls in the Mountain Hawks win over archrival Lafayette.
Lehigh’s second leading scorer this season, Kelly Draper receives her second straight All-League nod after being named to the Second-Team as a freshman. Draper has found the back of the 34 times in 2010 and leads the Mountain Hawks in assists with 18. She is fifth in the league in goals and sixth in assists and points. She has also won 21 draw controls, registered 23 ground balls and caused ten turnovers.
Draper has registered eight hat tricks this season, including a season best four goals in three different games. In the win over Colgate on April 24 she handed out a season high three assists, while in the Mountain Hawks win over Le Moyne she scooped up a career-high eight ground balls. Draper has won multiple draw controls in five games and caused more than one turnover in two others.
Leigh Ann Torcivia garners her second straight selection to the All-League Teams after receiving Second-Team recognition in 2009. Torcivia is one of Lehigh’s most athletic players, and like Dykstra, often draws the assignment of guarding the opposition’s toughest offensive threats. The Rumson, New Jersey native leads Lehigh in ground balls with 42 and is tied with Thomas for the team lead in draw controls with 38. She ranks third in the league in GBs and fifth in draw controls. Torcivia has also caused a team-leading 16 turnovers and scored one goal and handed out one assist.
Torcivia scored her lone goal of the season in Lehigh’s victory at Bucknell and overall she has registered 13 games with multiple ground balls, including a season best five versus Le Moyne. Torcivia has caused more than one turnover in five games and won at least one draw control in every game but one, topping out with four in three different contests.
One of two Lehigh freshmen named to the All-League Second-Team, Kenzie Dambach has had a strong start to her Mountain Hawks career. Dambach has started all 16 games and scooped up 24 ground balls, won 12 draw controls and caused nine turnovers during that time. She has also scored one goal, which came against Canisius and ranks fourth on the team in GBs.
Dambach picked up a season best five ground balls in a win at Fairfield and caused two turnovers in two different games. In addition she won a season high three draw controls in the Mountain Hawks road victory over Delaware.
Julie McBrien joins Dambach on the Second-Team after walking-on to the Mountain Hawks team this year. Blessed with incredible end-to-end speed, McBrien has scooped up 21 ground balls, won 18 draw controls and caused nine turnovers this season while starting all 16 games. Along with Torcivia, she plays a large role in Lehigh’s clearing game.
McBrien picked up a season high five GBs in the opener versus Mount St. Mary’s and won a season best three draw controls in two separate games. In addition she caused two turnovers in three different contests and handed out one assist.
The 2010 Patriot League regular season champion Mountain Hawks enter this weekend’s P.L. Tournament as the top seed and host. Lehigh will take on No. 4 seed Holy Cross in the second semifinal of the tourney on Friday, April 30 at the Ulrich Sports Complex beginning at 7:00. No. 2 Navy and No. 3 Colgate will get things started at 4:30 in the first semifinal with the winners meeting on Sunday, May 2 beginning at 1:00 in the 2010 Patriot League championship game.
Tickets for the 2010 Patriot League Women’s Lacrosse Tournament are $5 for adults and $3 for students and children. All tickets will be sold at the door on game day and all seating is general admission. One ticket is good for both semifinal games on Friday. Tickets will go on sale beginning 60 minutes prior to the Navy-Colgate tilt.
2010 Women's Lacrosse P.L. Tournament Preview
