Tuesday, March 31
Piscataway, N.J.
7:00 pm
Lehigh University
7-5, 2-2Patriot
10
at
8
Rutgers
1-11, 0-1Big Ten
1
2
F
Lehigh
6
4
10
Rutgers
3
5
8
Mountain Hawks beat Rutgers 10-8 for fourth straight win
3/31/2015 9:53:00 PM | Women's Lacrosse
PISCATAWAY, N.J. - The Lehigh women's lacrosse team jumped out to a 6-3 halftime lead and used a complete team effort to beat Rutgers out of the Big Ten, 10-8 in front of a nationally-televised audience on Tuesday evening. Senior Carli Sukonik led the offense with four goals while sophomore goalie Taylor Tvedt tied a career high with eight saves. The game was broadcast nation-wide on the Big Ten Network. The win marks Lehigh's fourth straight, all coming on the road in the last eight days.
"This is such a fun place first of all. To be a night game and on TV, it was a tremendous atmosphere for a college game, for our program and for this team," said Lehigh head coach Jill Redfern. "I think it was really fun for our team, and to win makes just makes it that much better."
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Junior Kendall Garden tallied two goals while four other Mountain Hawks scored a single goal. Senior Lauren Willcox enjoyed a strong game with one groundball, a draw control and caused turnover, along with her first goal of the season and fourth of her career.
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"I thought Lauren had a monster game," said Redfern. "She transitioned the ball so well for us; she was so noticeable out there doing so much work."
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Six of Tvedt's eight saves came in the first half as she helped her squad go up 6-3 after 30 minutes of play.
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"I thought Taylor was instrumental in this game," said Redfern. "She was a difference maker. She kept us alive in the first half and gave us some great stops and momentum."
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Sophomore Lauren Beausoleil added one goal and two assists while classmate Allison LaBeau had a goal and assist. Lehigh's five free position goals tied a season high.
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Rutgers tallied the game's opening goal, but the Mountain Hawks answered with two straight free position goals, from Beausoleil and Garden, to make it 2-1 Lehigh with 21:59 left in the first half. The Scarlet Knights pulled even just under three minutes later, but Sukonik answered with consecutive goals, converting a free position shot then finishing a feed from Beausoleil, to make it 4-2 with 12:49 on the clock.
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The Scarlet Knights pulled within 4-3 with 4:30 remaining, but a late goal from Garden and a free position goal from Willlcox as the first half expired made it 6-3 at the half.
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Rutgers scored the first goal of the second half, but the Mountain Hawks answered with two of the next three, both scored by Sukonik. Her fourth of the game made it 8-5 with 17:10 remaining.
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The teams went back and forth as a Rutgers goal pulled the Scarlett Knights back within 9-7 with 11:49 remaining. After a long stretch with no scoring, sophomore Krista Dampman ended more than a seven-minute possession with a goal to make it 10-7 with just over two minutes remaining.
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"We just tried to be disciplined and take the shot that we wanted and not take a risky shot that would result in a turnover," said Redfern. "I thought we were fabulous at the end of the game in doing just that. Our midfielders held the ball a ton and used a lot of clock to eventually get that last goal."
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Rutgers scored with under one minute remaining, but it was too little, too late.
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The Scarlet Knights finished with a 22-15 edge in shots and 12-7 advantage in draw controls while the Mountain Hawks held a 10-8 edge in groundballs. Tvedt's eight saves came across Candice Dandridge who made three for Rutgers.
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The Mountain Hawks return home on Saturday to host Boston University on their Senior Day. Opening draw is set for 1 p.m. at the Ulrich Sports Complex.
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"We're confident right now and I think there's no substitute for winning games to feel good about yourself," said Redfern.
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Team Stats
LEHIGH
RU
Shots
15
22
Turnovers
11
12
Caused Turnovers
7
6
Draw Controls
7
12
Free-Position Shots
6
6
Ground Balls
10
8
Game Leaders
Players
G
4
A
0
FO
-
Pen
-
GB
0
CT
0
G
2
A
0
FO
-
Pen
-
GB
1
CT
0
G
1
A
0
FO
-
Pen
-
GB
1
CT
1
G
1
A
2
FO
-
Pen
-
GB
2
CT
1
Players Mentioned
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/ Women's Lacrosse
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/ Women's LacrosseM
/ Women's Lacrosse
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/ Women's LacrosseD
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