Lehigh and Penn set to clash Wednesday night
10/11/2011 4:50:00 PM | Field Hockey
BETHLEHEM, Pa. - Coming off a strong weekend at home, the Lehigh field hockey team looks to get momentum going when it hosts Ivy League rival Penn on Wednesday at Ulrich Field. Wednesday marks the Mountain Hawks' final nonleague game of the season as they play their final three Patriot League contests on successive Saturdays. Lehigh is coming off a big 2-1 league win over Colgate before dropping a hard-fought 4-3 final to Cornell a day later.
A strong weekend was highlighted by Saturday's big Patriot League win over Colgate to move Lehigh to 1-1 in league play. Senior Abby Tilton gave Lehigh a 1-0 lead just 5:52 into the game while junior Kim Eng broke a 1-1 deadlock at the 55:26 mark. Sophomore Sierra Segear was stellar in the cage, stopping 11-of-12 shots on goal for her third win of the season.
Also impressing was freshman Steph Fratoni, who tallied assists on three of the Mountain Hawks' five goals to earn her Patriot League Rookie of the Week laurels. She first assisted on Eng's game-winner on Saturday before racking up helpers on Lehigh's first two goals against Cornell Sunday. Eng and Segear were also recognized on the league's weekly honor roll with honorable mention laurels.
Penn enters with a 2-8 record, 1-2 in Ivy League play. The Quakers' wins have come against Cornell and La Salle, both by 1-0 finals. Julie Tahan leads the offense with nine points (three goals, three assists). Helene Caniglia is right behind with eight (three goals, two assists) while Emily Corcoran has five (two goals, one assist). Caniglia is tied for the team lead (with Mandy Epstein) with two defensive saves apiece. Meanwhile, Kieran Sweeney has been strong in goal, posting a 2.41 GAA and 78.1 save percentage.
Wednesday marks Lehigh's first regular season game against Penn since 1995. The Mountain Hawks are searching for their first-ever victory against the Quakers as Penn owns a 9-0-1 all-time advantage. After playing to a scoreless draw in 1984, the teams played every year through '92, and then again in '95.
Lehigh wraps up its home schedule on Saturday when it welcomes Patriot League rival Bucknell to the Ulrich Sports Complex for a 1 p.m. start time. It's also Senior Day as Caitlin Donnelly, Madison Ingal, Allison Kowalski and Abby Tilton will all be honored prior to the game.
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