Mountain Hawks continue homestand against Colgate, Cornell
10/6/2011 9:03:00 PM | Field Hockey
BETHLEHEM, Pa. - Coming off a tough weekend against American and Rider, the Lehigh field hockey team looks to get back in the win column when it hosts Colgate on Saturday (1 p.m.) and Cornell on Sunday (3 p.m.) at Ulrich Field. Saturday marks the Mountain Hawks' second league game of the season (and first at home) as they look to improve to 1-1 in Patriot League play. It continues Lehigh's season-high five-game homestand which runs through the Senior Day game against Bucknell on Oct. 15.
The Mountain Hawks battled hard last weekend, but suffered a 5-0 defeat against Patriot League foe American on Saturday followed by a Sunday home loss to defending NEC Champion Rider. Sophomore Sierra Segear continued to impress all weekend, making 11 saves against American before tallying a career-high 22 stops to thwart off a potent Rider attack. That, along with her 13-save effort last Wednesday against Siena, gave Segear her second Patriot League Goalkeeper of the Week honor in the last four weeks.
Segear now leads the league in both save percentage (.772) and total saves (129). On Sunday, she teamed with her defense to make 28 stops against Rider (22 by Segear, four defensive saves by freshman Steph Fratoni and two by sophomore Marie Mignogna), which is good for 32nd in NCAA history and the most saves by any Division I team since Colgate made 34 against James Madison on Oct. 11, 1998.
Colgate enters with a 5-7 record, defeating Sunday's rival Cornell, 1-0 on Tuesday. The Raiders dropped their Patriot League opener, 5-0, to Lafayette last weekend. Olivia Nabhan and Lauren Dittman lead the offense with 12 points apiece (each five goals and two assists). Halle Biggar is next with eight (three goals, two assists). Amanda DiDomizio leads the way in goal, posting a 3.25 GAA and .760 save percentage.
Saturday will mark Lehigh's 30th meeting with Colgate since 1983, holding an all-time record of 12-16-1. The sides have rotated wins and losses since 2004, with the Raiders winning last season, 5-1. The Mountain Hawks have won three straight at home, in 2005, 2007 and 2009.
Cornell holds a 3-6 record, defeating Villanova, Lock Haven and Saint Francis (Pa.). The Big Red are led by Hannah Balleza with 10 points (four goals, two assists) while Brittany Thompson has four (one goal, two assists), Kat DiPastina three (one goal, one assist) and three others have two. Cornell has struggled to score at times, netting only nine goals in nine games thus far. A pair of goalkeepers has split time in the cage - Alex Botte has seen more minutes, posting a 2.67 GAA and .731 save percentage while Carolyn Horner owns a stellar 1.07 GAA and .886 save percentage.
The Mountain Hawks have struggled all-time against Cornell, holding a 1-18-1 mark. Lehigh's lone victory came back in 1993, while the sides tied a year later. The games have been extremely close, however, with each of the last five meetings finishing with a two-goal margin or less.
Lehigh wraps up its five-game homestand, and home schedule, next week when it welcomes Penn on Wednesday (7 p.m.) and Bucknell on Saturday (1 p.m.).
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