Saturday, October 5
Bethlehem, Pa.
11 a.m.
Lehigh University
(5-4, 1-2PL)
1
vs
4
American
(6-4, 2-0PL)
1
2
3
4
F
American
0
1
2
1
4
Lehigh
0
0
1
0
1
Mountain Hawks play competitive contest vs. American, falling 4-1
10/5/2019 1:46:00 PM | Field Hockey
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – The Lehigh field hockey team hung tough against perennial Patriot League power American on Saturday, down just 1-0 at the half and 3-1 after three quarters, but the visiting Eagles proved too much in the end, defeating the Mountain Hawks by a 4-1 final. Freshman Maddie Kahn was stellar in goal, making a career-high 12 saves to help keep Lehigh within striking distance. On the other end of the field, junior Lenke Havas scored her fourth goal of the season late in the third quarter.
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With Havas' goal, it gave Lehigh a goal against American in back-to-back seasons for the first time since 2006-07. It also extended the Mountain Hawks' streak to nine straight games with a goal to begin 2019 – their longest streak to begin a season since 2013.
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"We had to make a lot of adjustments from last weekend, which wasn't our best performance overall with back-to-back losses," said Lehigh head coach Caitlin Dallmeyer. "We focused on a lot of different things this week. One of them was rebounding from that game and making sure we put out a really good performance today, and we did. We played American, a great team, really well. Anna Lehman and Amanda Boyer did a great job in the center midfield marking some of their best players."
After a scoreless first quarter, Lehigh's best first-half chance came at the 20:02 mark when junior Anna Lehman fed sophomore Olivia Perrone in towards goal. Perrone fired a shot from close range, but American goalkeeper Fiona Minter made the stop.
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Less than a minute later, the Eagles got on the board as Megan Hoffman took a pass across and beat an oncoming Kahn. Despite that goal going in, Kahn was sensational all game defending American's transition attack.
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"American's transition game is very, very good and hard to defend, so they got a lot of opportunities off that," said Dallmeyer. "Fortunately, Maddie made some really big stops in the backfield which don't necessarily count as saves. The one v ones she stopped were really crucial for momentum and allowed us to keep fighting for a goal, which we were able to do."
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The Eagles scored twice in less than six minutes early in the third quarter to open a 3-0 advantage, but the Mountain Hawks would fight back like they've done all season.
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Lehigh fired three shots over the final 4:10 of the third, with its final shot of the stanza finding the back of the cage. Off its second corner of the quarter (and game), Perrone fed Havas in the middle, who beat Minter with a hard shot to pull Lehigh within 3-1 with just over a minute remaining in the stanza.
The Mountain Hawks couldn't get any closer in the fourth, however, as American held an 8-1 edge in shots and scored an insurance goal at the 53:31 mark, for the 4-1 final.
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Final shots were 25-6 in favor of American while the Eagles held a 9-3 edge in penalty corners.
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"I'm happy we rebounded, I'm happy we did things that we didn't do last weekend and I'm happy we were able to focus on making adjustments and we were able to bring one of our stronger performances this year against a really talented team," said Dallmeyer. "When they were scoring, we were able to fight back and gain some momentum. We had some really good opportunities inside their 25, but we just couldn't get inside their circle to really capitalize as much as we needed to.
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"Competing against good teams is something we haven't always been able to do in the past. The score against American last year was 9-1 and we need to make sure we're cutting that down so we can show our improvement and people can worry about us in the future."
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The Mountain Hawks return home in 24 hours to host Long Island on Sunday at 12 p.m.
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Like Lehigh field hockey on Facebook, follow on Twitter and Instagram for continued updates on the Mountain Hawks.
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With Havas' goal, it gave Lehigh a goal against American in back-to-back seasons for the first time since 2006-07. It also extended the Mountain Hawks' streak to nine straight games with a goal to begin 2019 – their longest streak to begin a season since 2013.
Â
"We had to make a lot of adjustments from last weekend, which wasn't our best performance overall with back-to-back losses," said Lehigh head coach Caitlin Dallmeyer. "We focused on a lot of different things this week. One of them was rebounding from that game and making sure we put out a really good performance today, and we did. We played American, a great team, really well. Anna Lehman and Amanda Boyer did a great job in the center midfield marking some of their best players."
ÂMaddie Kahn with her 10th save of the game, as the Mountain Hawks remain within striking distance. Watch: https://t.co/LpvHe71zVy pic.twitter.com/R1E9nGCdVJ
— Lehigh Field Hockey (@LehighFH) October 5, 2019
After a scoreless first quarter, Lehigh's best first-half chance came at the 20:02 mark when junior Anna Lehman fed sophomore Olivia Perrone in towards goal. Perrone fired a shot from close range, but American goalkeeper Fiona Minter made the stop.
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Less than a minute later, the Eagles got on the board as Megan Hoffman took a pass across and beat an oncoming Kahn. Despite that goal going in, Kahn was sensational all game defending American's transition attack.
Â
"American's transition game is very, very good and hard to defend, so they got a lot of opportunities off that," said Dallmeyer. "Fortunately, Maddie made some really big stops in the backfield which don't necessarily count as saves. The one v ones she stopped were really crucial for momentum and allowed us to keep fighting for a goal, which we were able to do."
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The Eagles scored twice in less than six minutes early in the third quarter to open a 3-0 advantage, but the Mountain Hawks would fight back like they've done all season.
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Lehigh fired three shots over the final 4:10 of the third, with its final shot of the stanza finding the back of the cage. Off its second corner of the quarter (and game), Perrone fed Havas in the middle, who beat Minter with a hard shot to pull Lehigh within 3-1 with just over a minute remaining in the stanza.
ÂWhat a goal! Mountain Hawks back within two after this great play of a corner. Havas from Perrone. Watch the fourth: https://t.co/LpvHe71zVy pic.twitter.com/zBPegYTwQ8
— Lehigh Field Hockey (@LehighFH) October 5, 2019
The Mountain Hawks couldn't get any closer in the fourth, however, as American held an 8-1 edge in shots and scored an insurance goal at the 53:31 mark, for the 4-1 final.
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Final shots were 25-6 in favor of American while the Eagles held a 9-3 edge in penalty corners.
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"I'm happy we rebounded, I'm happy we did things that we didn't do last weekend and I'm happy we were able to focus on making adjustments and we were able to bring one of our stronger performances this year against a really talented team," said Dallmeyer. "When they were scoring, we were able to fight back and gain some momentum. We had some really good opportunities inside their 25, but we just couldn't get inside their circle to really capitalize as much as we needed to.
Â
"Competing against good teams is something we haven't always been able to do in the past. The score against American last year was 9-1 and we need to make sure we're cutting that down so we can show our improvement and people can worry about us in the future."
Â
The Mountain Hawks return home in 24 hours to host Long Island on Sunday at 12 p.m.
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Like Lehigh field hockey on Facebook, follow on Twitter and Instagram for continued updates on the Mountain Hawks.
ÂHear from Coach Dallmeyer following today's 4-1 defeat vs. American. pic.twitter.com/4Zx2JyLPAA
— Lehigh Field Hockey (@LehighFH) October 5, 2019
Team Stats
AMERICAN
LEHIGH
Goals
4
1
Shots
25
6
Shots on Goal
16
3
Saves
2
12
Corners
9
3
Offsides
0
0
Fouls
0
0
Scoring Plays
Hoffman, Megan (2)
Assisted By: Coenen, Noor
Passed ahead to #18 who beat oncoming go
20:39
Rossman, Aidan (2)
Assisted By: Dieckmann, Jette
#12 passed across to #21, who fired into
35:45
Arata, Ella (1)
Rebound following save.
38:24
Havas, Lenke (4)
Assisted By: Perrone, Olivia
Off corner, #10 passed in center to #8 w
43:57
Coenen, Noor (7)
Assisted By: Fredricks, Lauren , Davies, Georgia
Direct shot off penalty corner.
53:31
Game Leaders
Shots
2
SOG
1
Goals
1
Assists
0
Shots
2
SOG
2
Goals
0
Assists
1
Shots
1
SOG
0
Goals
0
Assists
0
Shots
1
SOG
0
Goals
0
Assists
0
Players Mentioned
M
/ Field HockeyD/M
/ Field Hockey
GK
/ Field Hockey
F
/ Field HockeyM
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