Tuesday, February 27
Bethlehem, Pa.
6:30 p.m.
Lehigh University
12
vs
18
Princeton
Mountain Hawks’ comeback attempt falls short in 18-12 defeat to No. 14 Princeton
2/27/2018 10:09:00 PM | Women's Lacrosse
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – After falling behind 8-0, the Lehigh women's lacrosse team stormed back with 10 of the next 15 goals to pull within 13-10 with 16:22 still remaining, but No. 14 Princeton used a late 4-0 run to pull away, downing the Mountain Hawks 18-12 on Tuesday evening. Lehigh scored six-of-seven goals bridging the end of the first half and beginning of the second. For the second straight home game, the Mountain Hawks found themselves with a chance to pull off an upset against a nationally-ranked opponent. In Lehigh's previous home game, it dropped a hard-fought 14-13 final to No. 12 Penn State.
"We were not able to execute our offense in the first half the way we wanted to, but we figured it out by the second," said Lehigh head coach Jill Redfern. "When we started moving the ball better, we found some really nice opportunities and we finished them. That was a big difference. I also think we played way better team defense, which helped us close the gap."
Junior Olivia Kelly helped spark the offense with her first four career goals, including a natural hat trick to trim Lehigh's deficit from 12-4 to 12-7. Classmate Courtney Henig had six points (two goals, four assists), her third straight game with at least five points. Sophomore Sondra Dickey tallied three goals for her third hat trick of the season and fourth straight multi-goal game to begin the year. Senior Julianne D'Orazio filled up the stat sheet before leaving the game due to injury; D'Orazio tallied a goal, five groundballs and a caused turnover. Junior Kayleen Kelly posted a career-high seven draw controls.
"I was thrilled with Liv's performance," said Redfern. "She's a gritty, gritty player. We've been working on going to the cage with her in practice. She's been playing line defense primarily for three years now, so we're excited for her to contribute in the way she did. I thought Kay Kelly was really tough too on our defensive side and on the draw. I'm so proud of our tough performances; our team really fought for that score."
Lehigh trailed 8-0 just over 11 minutes into the game before Dickey ended Princeton's run with her first of three goals on the evening. The Tigers answered with three of the next five goals and four of the next seven to take a 12-4 advantage. That's when Olivia Kelly posted her three straight goals. Princeton scored at 25:02 of the second half to pull within 13-7, but Henig helped spark a 3-0 Mountain Hawks' run with two goals before assisting on Dickey's third. That pulled Lehigh within 13-10 less than halfway into the stanza.
The Mountain Hawks also trailed 14-11 after junior Kellie Gough found the back of the net, but that's as close as they would come. The Tigers scored four of the game's final five goals to win, 18-12.
Princeton finished with a 38-24 edge in shots, 17-14 advantage in groundballs and 19-13 edge in draw controls. Freshman Samantha Sagi made six saves in goal, across a pair of Princeton goalkeepers who combined for eight.
The Mountain Hawks will return to action on Saturday when they travel to Wagner to face the Seahawks. Opening draw is now set for 12 p.m. (originally 1 p.m.).
Like Lehigh Women's Lacrosse on Facebook and follow on Twitter and Instagram for exclusive content, team updates and more.
"We were not able to execute our offense in the first half the way we wanted to, but we figured it out by the second," said Lehigh head coach Jill Redfern. "When we started moving the ball better, we found some really nice opportunities and we finished them. That was a big difference. I also think we played way better team defense, which helped us close the gap."
Junior Olivia Kelly helped spark the offense with her first four career goals, including a natural hat trick to trim Lehigh's deficit from 12-4 to 12-7. Classmate Courtney Henig had six points (two goals, four assists), her third straight game with at least five points. Sophomore Sondra Dickey tallied three goals for her third hat trick of the season and fourth straight multi-goal game to begin the year. Senior Julianne D'Orazio filled up the stat sheet before leaving the game due to injury; D'Orazio tallied a goal, five groundballs and a caused turnover. Junior Kayleen Kelly posted a career-high seven draw controls.
"I was thrilled with Liv's performance," said Redfern. "She's a gritty, gritty player. We've been working on going to the cage with her in practice. She's been playing line defense primarily for three years now, so we're excited for her to contribute in the way she did. I thought Kay Kelly was really tough too on our defensive side and on the draw. I'm so proud of our tough performances; our team really fought for that score."
Lehigh trailed 8-0 just over 11 minutes into the game before Dickey ended Princeton's run with her first of three goals on the evening. The Tigers answered with three of the next five goals and four of the next seven to take a 12-4 advantage. That's when Olivia Kelly posted her three straight goals. Princeton scored at 25:02 of the second half to pull within 13-7, but Henig helped spark a 3-0 Mountain Hawks' run with two goals before assisting on Dickey's third. That pulled Lehigh within 13-10 less than halfway into the stanza.
The Mountain Hawks also trailed 14-11 after junior Kellie Gough found the back of the net, but that's as close as they would come. The Tigers scored four of the game's final five goals to win, 18-12.
Princeton finished with a 38-24 edge in shots, 17-14 advantage in groundballs and 19-13 edge in draw controls. Freshman Samantha Sagi made six saves in goal, across a pair of Princeton goalkeepers who combined for eight.
The Mountain Hawks will return to action on Saturday when they travel to Wagner to face the Seahawks. Opening draw is now set for 12 p.m. (originally 1 p.m.).
Like Lehigh Women's Lacrosse on Facebook and follow on Twitter and Instagram for exclusive content, team updates and more.
Players Mentioned
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