No. 10 Loyola pulls away from Mountain Hawks

BETHLEHEM, Pa. – The Lehigh women's lacrosse team stood tied with less than nine minutes left in the first half, but No. 10 Loyola took over from there, scoring 15 of the game's final 17 goals to defeat the Mountain Hawks, 18-5 on Saturday afternoon. The loss snaps Lehigh's four-game winning streak as it falls to 6-4 on the season, 1-1 in Patriot League play. The Greyhounds improve to 6-2, 2-0 in the league.

"We had a much better first half than the second," said Lehigh head coach Jill Redfern. "Our defense was really cohesive and we got some great stops that allowed us to stay in the game. Loyola's firepower and speed over the course of the game caught up with us. I give them a ton of credit; they're super talented and can really put the ball away. Over the course of 60 minutes, it adds up."

Four different Mountain Hawks scored one goal apiece, including the first-career goal from sophomore Christine Balestra. Junior Kayleen Kelly tied a career-high eight draw controls, reaching 47 draw controls on the season to tie Carli Sukonik's single-season school record (2012). Sophomore Sondra Dickey recorded four draw controls to reach 45 on the year as she nears the record as well. Senior Alexis King led the defense with two caused turnovers.

(3/24/2018) Women's Lacrosse vs. No. 10 Loyola

Junior Olivia Kelly gave Lehigh a 1-0 lead less than three minutes into the contest, then after a Loyola goal, the Mountain Hawks went up 2-1 following a Courtney Henig score at 17:17 of the first half. Later in the stanza, Dickey scored to pull Lehigh even at three with 9:47 remaining, but the Greyhounds went on to score the next four goals, 13 of the next 14 and 15 of the final 17. Balestra tallied Lehigh's final goal at 8:50 of the second half, finishing a feed from junior Kellie Gough.

Final shots were 35-20 in favor of Loyola while the Greyhounds held a 20-12 edge in groundballs. Lehigh finished with a 15-10 advantage in draw controls. Freshman Samantha Sagi stopped 10-of-15 shots in the first half, but made just two second-half saves to finish with 12 on the afternoon.

The Mountain Hawks will return to action on Wednesday when they travel to Navy for a 5 p.m. opening draw.

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Team Stats

Olivia Kelly

Mary Ellen Carron

Courtney Henig

Sondra Dickey

Players Mentioned

Christine Balestra

Sondra Dickey

Kellie Gough

Courtney Henig

Kayleen Kelly

Olivia Kelly

Alexis King

Samantha Sagi

Carli Sukonik

Players Mentioned

Christine Balestra

Sondra Dickey

Kellie Gough

Courtney Henig

Kayleen Kelly

Olivia Kelly

Alexis King

Samantha Sagi

Carli Sukonik

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