Wednesday, April 17
Easton, Pa.
7 p.m.
Lehigh University
6-8, 2-5PL
16
at
14
Lafayette
5-10, 1-6PL
1
2
F
Lehigh
8
8
16
Lafayette
8
6
14
Mountain Hawks storm back with six goals in final nine minutes for 16-14 win at Lafayette
4/18/2019 12:00:00 AM | Women's Lacrosse
EASTON, Pa. – Trailing 13-10 with less than 10 minutes remaining, the Lehigh women's lacrosse team answered in a big way, erupting for five straight goals in the span of 5:24 and six of the game's final seven tallies, to defeat archrival Lafayette 16-14 on Wednesday evening at Fisher Stadium. Senior Kellie Gough scored three consecutive goals as part of the run to finish with a career-high tying six goals on the evening. The win marked Lehigh's sixth straight against the Leopards, and 12th in its last 13 tries dating back to 2007. It also moved the Mountain Hawks into a tie for the sixth and final Patriot League Tournament spot with two regular season games remaining.
"I think [our team] really stayed together, kept communicating out on the field and delivered on the plan that we were telling them on the sideline," said Lehigh head coach Jill Redfern. "They came away with some great execution in the last 10 minutes of the game."
Gough's six goals tied her career high set last season against VCU, ironically also at Fisher Stadium. In total, three Mountain Hawks tallied six or more points. Senior Courtney Henig tied a career-high seven points via three goals and four assists while junior Sondra Dickey tallied three goals and three assists. All of Dickey's assists came consecutively to Gough, all in just 2:42 to turn a 13-11 deficit into a 14-13 lead.
"Kellie was terrific in there," said Redfern. "She really had her eyes on Sondra, who was collecting two people, and slipped into some open spaces in front of the cage."
Senior Kaitlyn Quinn scored a season-high two goals as well. Defensively, the Mountain Hawks caused 10 turnovers, with Gough recording three of them, all in the game's final 15:05. Dickey and senior Mary Ellen Carron caused two turnovers apiece.
The Leopards opened the game with leads of 2-0 and 3-1, but a three-goal Mountain Hawk rally, capped off by a Christine Balestra goal, gave Lehigh its first lead at 4-3 with 12:14 left in the first half. The rest of the half saw the teams tied at four, five, six, seven and eight as a Jane Kirby goal with 31 seconds remaining pulled the Leopards even at eight following 30 minutes of play.
Kirby then scored early in the second to give Lafayette the lead back, but consecutive goals from Henig and Gough gave Lehigh a 10-9 advantage.
From there, the Leopards caught fire with four straight goals to take a 13-10 advantage with exactly 10 minutes remaining. But that's when the Mountain Hawks turned things around in a big way.
Henig ended Lehigh's 14:50 scoring drought with a big goal to make the score 13-11. Then Gough scored, from Dickey, at the 7:58, 7:00 and 5:01 marks, to put the Mountain Hawks ahead, 14-13. Dickey scored herself at 3:19 to give Lehigh a 15-13 lead. Lafayette answered at 2:24, but a Carron goal with the shot clock winding down gave Lehigh a two-goal lead with 22 seconds to go, essentially sealing the win.
Final shots were 34-27 in favor of Lafayette while the Mountain Hawks held a 19-17 edge in groundballs. Junior Samantha Sagi made eight saves, across Lafayette's Quinn Lacy, who also made eight. Lehigh found a way to win despite the Leopards holding a 24-8 edge in draw controls. The Mountain Hawks did bounce back to win two of the final four draws, which proved critical.
"They had so many more possessions than us," said Redfern. "I thought their #22 did a great job on the draw. Maggie did a couple little change ups at the end that got the ball to Sondra and put the game away."
Lehigh will look to continue its quest for a sixth straight Patriot League Tournament berth when it travels to Bucknell on Saturday. Opening draw is set for 1 p.m. on the Patriot League Network.
Like Lehigh Women's Lacrosse on Facebook and follow on Twitter and Instagram for exclusive content, team updates and more.
Gallery: (4/17/2019) Women's Lacrosse at Lafayette, 4/17/19
"I think [our team] really stayed together, kept communicating out on the field and delivered on the plan that we were telling them on the sideline," said Lehigh head coach Jill Redfern. "They came away with some great execution in the last 10 minutes of the game."
Gough's six goals tied her career high set last season against VCU, ironically also at Fisher Stadium. In total, three Mountain Hawks tallied six or more points. Senior Courtney Henig tied a career-high seven points via three goals and four assists while junior Sondra Dickey tallied three goals and three assists. All of Dickey's assists came consecutively to Gough, all in just 2:42 to turn a 13-11 deficit into a 14-13 lead.
"Kellie was terrific in there," said Redfern. "She really had her eyes on Sondra, who was collecting two people, and slipped into some open spaces in front of the cage."
Senior Kaitlyn Quinn scored a season-high two goals as well. Defensively, the Mountain Hawks caused 10 turnovers, with Gough recording three of them, all in the game's final 15:05. Dickey and senior Mary Ellen Carron caused two turnovers apiece.
The Leopards opened the game with leads of 2-0 and 3-1, but a three-goal Mountain Hawk rally, capped off by a Christine Balestra goal, gave Lehigh its first lead at 4-3 with 12:14 left in the first half. The rest of the half saw the teams tied at four, five, six, seven and eight as a Jane Kirby goal with 31 seconds remaining pulled the Leopards even at eight following 30 minutes of play.
Kirby then scored early in the second to give Lafayette the lead back, but consecutive goals from Henig and Gough gave Lehigh a 10-9 advantage.
From there, the Leopards caught fire with four straight goals to take a 13-10 advantage with exactly 10 minutes remaining. But that's when the Mountain Hawks turned things around in a big way.
Henig ended Lehigh's 14:50 scoring drought with a big goal to make the score 13-11. Then Gough scored, from Dickey, at the 7:58, 7:00 and 5:01 marks, to put the Mountain Hawks ahead, 14-13. Dickey scored herself at 3:19 to give Lehigh a 15-13 lead. Lafayette answered at 2:24, but a Carron goal with the shot clock winding down gave Lehigh a two-goal lead with 22 seconds to go, essentially sealing the win.
Final shots were 34-27 in favor of Lafayette while the Mountain Hawks held a 19-17 edge in groundballs. Junior Samantha Sagi made eight saves, across Lafayette's Quinn Lacy, who also made eight. Lehigh found a way to win despite the Leopards holding a 24-8 edge in draw controls. The Mountain Hawks did bounce back to win two of the final four draws, which proved critical.
"They had so many more possessions than us," said Redfern. "I thought their #22 did a great job on the draw. Maggie did a couple little change ups at the end that got the ball to Sondra and put the game away."
Lehigh will look to continue its quest for a sixth straight Patriot League Tournament berth when it travels to Bucknell on Saturday. Opening draw is set for 1 p.m. on the Patriot League Network.
Like Lehigh Women's Lacrosse on Facebook and follow on Twitter and Instagram for exclusive content, team updates and more.
We caught up with Kellie Gough following her career-high tying SIX goals and most importantly, a 16-14 Lehigh win over Lafayette! pic.twitter.com/zHREWhYqXq
— Lehigh W Lacrosse (@LehighWLacrosse) April 18, 2019
Here's what Coach Redfern had to say following tonight's thrilling 16-14 win at Lafayette! pic.twitter.com/Wb7P9rzJm0
— Lehigh W Lacrosse (@LehighWLacrosse) April 18, 2019
Team Stats
LEHIGH
LAFAYETT
Shots
27
34
Turnovers
9
15
Caused Turnovers
10
5
Draw Controls
8
24
Free-Position Shots
5
6
Ground Balls
19
17
Game Leaders
G
6
A
0
FO
-
Pen
-
GB
4
CT
3
G
3
A
4
FO
-
Pen
-
GB
0
CT
0
G
3
A
3
FO
-
Pen
-
GB
2
CT
2
G
2
A
0
FO
-
Pen
-
GB
0
CT
0
Players Mentioned
A
/ Women's Lacrosse
A
/ Women's LacrosseM
/ Women's LacrosseA
/ Women's LacrosseA
/ Women's LacrosseA
/ Women's Lacrosse
GK
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