Holy Cross storms past Mountain Hawks, 4-1

Saturday, October 6

Bethlehem, Pa.

11 a.m.

Lehigh University

(1-11, 0-4PL)

Holy Cross

(2-9, 2-1PL)

Team	1	2	Final F
Holy Cross	0	4	4
Lehigh	1	0	1

10/6/2018 3:11:00 PM | Field Hockey

Box Score

BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Senior Lindsay Alvarez scored just 2:07 into the contest to give the Lehigh field hockey team a quick 1-0 lead, a goal which stood until the 52nd minute, but Holy Cross scored four times over the final 18:54 to beat the Mountain Hawks, 4-1 on Saturday. Sophomore Lenke Havas added a highlight-reel defensive save for Lehigh while junior goalkeeper Paige Innarella made three saves in her return after missing four games due to injury.

It didn't take long for Lehigh to get on the board as Alvarez took a pass from freshman Mauri Ware and quickly fired a shot past Holy Cross goalkeeper Marcia LaPlante for her first goal of the season, and the third of her career. Alvarez's score gave Lehigh a goal in each of its first four Patriot League contests for the first time since the league's expansion (with the addition of Boston University for the 2013 season).

Not long after Alvarez's goal, Havas kept her team in front with an impressive defensive save at the 4:38 mark, somehow knocking the ball out of mid-air.

How about this defensive save from Lenke Havas today?! #PLTop3 @PatriotLeagueTV @NCAA @NFHCA pic.twitter.com/DtyMTjju4t
— Lehigh Field Hockey (@LehighFH) October 6, 2018

Lehigh was outshot 8-7 in the first half, but had the better of the opportunities, including a ball that went in following a penalty corner, but was ruled no goal.

After Holy Cross tallied the first three shots of the second half, Lehigh came right back with three consecutive as well. In the 44th minute, sophomore Anna Lehman had a pair of chances consecutively from in close on LaPlante, but the Crusaders' goalkeeper stood tall.

Holy Cross got on the board in the 52nd minute as Emily Loprete beat Innarella to tie the score at the 51:06 mark. The Crusaders took the lead just 29 seconds later, and added insurance goals at 65:20 and 68:42, to erase much doubt. Lehigh had plenty of chances down the stretch, firing five shots on goal after going down 2-1, but LaPlante made all the stops to help her team to the 4-1 victory.

Final shots were 19-16 in favor of Lehigh while the Mountain Hawks held a 8-4 edge in penalty corners (including 6-2 in the second half). LaPlante tallied 10 saves for Holy Cross.

Lehigh will return home on Monday to host Cornell at 6 p.m.

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