Lehigh earns first win behind dominant 13-3 triumph at Iona

Saturday, February 25

New Rochelle, N.Y.

1 PM

Lehigh University

1-1

Iona

2-2

Team	1	2	Final F
Lehigh	5	8	13
Iona	0	3	3

Lehigh earns first win behind dominant 13-3 triumph at Iona

2/25/2017 3:28:00 PM | Women's Lacrosse

Box Score

NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y. - Iona began the second half on a 3-0 run, but the Lehigh women's lacrosse team ended the game with eight unanswered goals, on the way to an impressive 13-3 win on Saturday afternoon. The Mountain Hawks' defense caused 19 of Iona's 27 turnovers for the game, allowing their fewest goals since a 12-3 victory over Mount St. Mary's last season. Senior Allison LaBeau finished with a team-high four goals and six points to lead the offense.

"Iona had a nice run and I thought our team responded well," said Lehigh head coach Jill Redfern. "Our execution wasn't fabulous, but we picked it up later in the second half. Alli had some momentum changing goals, which helped. Our defense played well for 60 minutes to hold them to three goals."

Along with LaBeau's six points, junior Haley Wentzel had three (two goals, one assist) while freshman Sondra Dickey posted two points (one goal, one assist). Both Dickey and freshman Autumn Ryan scored their first-career goals.

"I was excited for Sondra and Autumn to get their first goals in a Lehigh uniform and our scoring was pretty spread out, which was nice," said Redfern. "We need to play a full 60 minutes."

Defensively, junior Alexis King recorded a career-high four caused turnovers. Five others each recorded two caused turnovers, including junior Kayleen Kelly who also had a team-high three draw controls.

Lehigh outscored the Gaels 5-0 in the first half, getting goals from senior Julianne D'Orazio, Wentzel, sophomore Kaitlyn Quinn, sophomore Kellie Gough and Ryan.

Iona made a run early in the second half, eventually pulling within 5-3 with 20:51 remaining. Wentzel ended the drought, then LaBeau followed with three straight goals to give Lehigh a 10-3 advantage. Dickey, LaBeau and senior Lauren Beausoleil rounded out the scoring for the 13-3 final.

"Shoutout to Lexy King on the defensive end," said Redfern. "I thought she played a really nice game for us and made some difference-making plays down there. I think they played good team defense and created those turnovers, which gave us all those possessions on offense. We just need to put more in the back of the cage after we get them."

Final shots were 31-22 in favor of Lehigh while Iona held a 24-20 edge in groundballs. The Mountain Hawks finished with an 11-6 edge in draw controls. Senior goalkeeper Taylor Tvedt finished with eight saves for Lehigh.

The Mountain Hawks will now look ahead to their first home game of the season next Saturday, Mar. 4 against Wagner at 1 p.m.

"We're excited to be home for sure and proud of our team for getting their first win," said Redfern.

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