Lehigh University Athletics
Mountain Hawks enjoy successful first week of preseason practice
1/29/2016 1:56:00 PM | Women's Lacrosse
BETHLEHEM, Pa. - The Lehigh women's lacrosse team is deep into its preseason practice as the Mountain Hawks prepare for their season opener on Feb. 13 vs. Penn State. The Mountain Hawks reported last Thursday and are making strides as preseason enters week two.
"We've had a really nice start," said eighth-year head coach Jill Redfern. "The team came back fit, which is always helpful. We're making good progress. We're spending time reviewing our offensive and defensive sets and reviewing what we introduced in the fall. We're working on a lot of basics to make sure that we're up to speed and ready to compete in just one more week (scrimmage against Cornell)."(1/29/2016) Women's Lacrosse Opens Practice
Lehigh had to adjust on the fly due to last weekend's major snowstorm in the Mid-Atlantic which dumped 30+ inches of snow in the area. Being in the Northeaster, the Mountain Hawks know winter weather comes with the territory, and they took everything in stride.
"We came back faster, stronger and more focused than we ever have before," said senior co-captain Kendall Garden. "Obviously, the snow took us out in the beginning, but we haven't missed a beat. It was a little bit of a challenge. We only lost one day because of the snow. They plowed the fields almost immediately and we had practice on Sunday. It was definitely a challenge, but it made us work that much harder the next day."
The 2016 Mountain Hawks feature a strong mix of returning veterans and talented youngsters.
"We're young, but we're really motivated by our younger players, which is great," said Garden. "Our freshman class is spectacular. They're really strong. Our upperclassmen have strong leadership."
Leading the way among the returnees are Garden and junior Allison LaBeau, both co-captains who were both named preseason All-Patriot League honorees on Thursday. LaBeau led Lehigh in scoring last season with 48 points behind 34 goals and 14 assists while Garden had 34 points (24 goals, 10 assists) along with a team-high 31 caused turnovers, 30 groundballs and 24 draw controls. In total, Lehigh returns seven of its top eight scorers from a season ago. The Mountain Hawks also feature nine talented freshmen who look to make a strong impact as well.
Through fall practice and now one week of preseason, the team's identity is beginning to form.
"I think they're an aggressive team and will be aggressive going to the goal cage," said Redfern. "I hope part of their identity will be pushing fast break, taking some great risks and being a fearless team."
The Mountain Hawks have already come a long way and look to continue developing as the season quickly approaches.
"We've gotten a lot of our foundations in place and now, we'll just need to build on those foundations and work out some more of our personnel rotation," said Redfern. "We'll need to make a couple more decisions on where certain players will be able to best contribute. Those decisions will sort themselves out over the next couple weeks."
First, Lehigh will face a veteran Cornell team in a scrimmage next weekend to help tune-up for the season opener.
"Cornell has a lot of returners coming back, so they're a more experienced team than us," said Redfern. "I think that will be a great practice competition for us, to face a strong and experienced team."
The regular season opener is set for Saturday, Feb. 13 as Lehigh hosts defending National Quarterfinalist Penn State at 3 p.m.
"Over the next couple weeks, we hope to play well together," said Garden. "We're each strong individually, but we want to glue together as a team and come out strong in our first game against Penn State."
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"We've had a really nice start," said eighth-year head coach Jill Redfern. "The team came back fit, which is always helpful. We're making good progress. We're spending time reviewing our offensive and defensive sets and reviewing what we introduced in the fall. We're working on a lot of basics to make sure that we're up to speed and ready to compete in just one more week (scrimmage against Cornell)."
Lehigh had to adjust on the fly due to last weekend's major snowstorm in the Mid-Atlantic which dumped 30+ inches of snow in the area. Being in the Northeaster, the Mountain Hawks know winter weather comes with the territory, and they took everything in stride.
"We came back faster, stronger and more focused than we ever have before," said senior co-captain Kendall Garden. "Obviously, the snow took us out in the beginning, but we haven't missed a beat. It was a little bit of a challenge. We only lost one day because of the snow. They plowed the fields almost immediately and we had practice on Sunday. It was definitely a challenge, but it made us work that much harder the next day."
The 2016 Mountain Hawks feature a strong mix of returning veterans and talented youngsters.
"We're young, but we're really motivated by our younger players, which is great," said Garden. "Our freshman class is spectacular. They're really strong. Our upperclassmen have strong leadership."
Leading the way among the returnees are Garden and junior Allison LaBeau, both co-captains who were both named preseason All-Patriot League honorees on Thursday. LaBeau led Lehigh in scoring last season with 48 points behind 34 goals and 14 assists while Garden had 34 points (24 goals, 10 assists) along with a team-high 31 caused turnovers, 30 groundballs and 24 draw controls. In total, Lehigh returns seven of its top eight scorers from a season ago. The Mountain Hawks also feature nine talented freshmen who look to make a strong impact as well.
Through fall practice and now one week of preseason, the team's identity is beginning to form.
"I think they're an aggressive team and will be aggressive going to the goal cage," said Redfern. "I hope part of their identity will be pushing fast break, taking some great risks and being a fearless team."
The Mountain Hawks have already come a long way and look to continue developing as the season quickly approaches.
"We've gotten a lot of our foundations in place and now, we'll just need to build on those foundations and work out some more of our personnel rotation," said Redfern. "We'll need to make a couple more decisions on where certain players will be able to best contribute. Those decisions will sort themselves out over the next couple weeks."
First, Lehigh will face a veteran Cornell team in a scrimmage next weekend to help tune-up for the season opener.
"Cornell has a lot of returners coming back, so they're a more experienced team than us," said Redfern. "I think that will be a great practice competition for us, to face a strong and experienced team."
The regular season opener is set for Saturday, Feb. 13 as Lehigh hosts defending National Quarterfinalist Penn State at 3 p.m.
"Over the next couple weeks, we hope to play well together," said Garden. "We're each strong individually, but we want to glue together as a team and come out strong in our first game against Penn State."
Like Lehigh Women's Lacrosse on Facebook and follow on Twitter and Instagram for exclusive content, team updates and more.
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