Friday, September 6
Bethlehem, Pa.
5 p.m.
Lehigh University
(2-0)
4
vs
1
Towson
(0-2)
1
2
3
4
F
Towson
0
0
0
1
1
Lehigh
1
0
3
0
4
Mountain Hawks off to best start in 17 years following 4-1 win over Towson
9/6/2019 8:33:00 PM | Field Hockey
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – For the first time since 2002, the Lehigh field hockey team is 2-0. One week after winning its season opener at Rider, the Mountain Hawks captured their home opener as well, using a three-goal third quarter to defeat Towson 4-1 on Friday at the Ulrich Sports Complex. Freshman Sarah Bonthuis led the charge, tallying two third-quarter goals in the span of 3:19 to turn a 1-0 lead into a 3-0 advantage, while junior Drew Pecora scored two goals as well. Sophomore Leah Mullery dished two assists. The Lehigh defense stood tall as well, allowing just seven shots (and only three on goal).
"It's obviously very exciting. We've been working really hard, not just during preseason, but also since last spring, of making sure that we're making big improvements," said Lehigh head coach Caitlin Dallmeyer. "It's so nice to see everyone's hard paying off and being able to walk away from games with this great feeling. It's very much deserved by everyone on the team."
Along with improving to 2-0 and winning both their season and home openers for the first time since 2002, the Mountain Hawks have allowed just one goal through two goals, their fewest since 2000.
Just over seven minutes into the game, Pecora made a feed to Mullery near the top of the circle. Mullery blasted a low shot towards goal where Pecora made a redirection past Towson goalkeeper Tess Okkerse for a 1-0 lead. It marked Pecora's first goal since the 2017 campaign after missing last season due to injury. After a Towson shot was blocked less than four minutes in, the Mountain Hawks fired the next 10 shots until the Tigers' first shot on goal, which freshman Maddie Kahn stopped in the 29th minute.
Bonthuis took over to begin the second half, scoring just 1:08 into the third quarter. Mullery slipped a pass to the first-year in front of the goalkeeper, who beat new keeper Camille Pottillo with a wraparound, giving Lehigh a 2-0 advantage. Just over three minutes later, Bonthuis scored again from in close, making the score 3-0 at the 34:27 mark.
Before the third quarter was over, Pecora blasted a low shot for her second goal of the game, and season.
Towson added a mid fourth-quarter goal on a transition opportunity, but it wasn't nearly enough. In the end, the Mountain Hawks won their home opener for the third time in four years under Coach Dallmeyer.
Final shots were 21-6 in favor of Lehigh while the Mountain Hawks held a 10-2 edge in penalty corners.
"We wanted to make sure we had really high energy and were communicating very well," said Dallmeyer. "That's something we did well against Rider and in the first half, we didn't do that as well as we wanted to. We focused on how to make the adjustments to make sure we were all gelling together and making good decisions in front of the net. We made the adjustments and were able to make that change really quickly, which got us more energy. We fed off that, so we had a really, really good quarter. We then had to adjust to that last quarter to figure out how to game manage so we could secure the win."
Lehigh returns to action next weekend when it hosts Richmond next Friday (4 p.m.) and Georgetown on Sunday (12 p.m.).
Like Lehigh field hockey on Facebook, follow on Twitter and Instagram for continued updates on the Mountain Hawks.
Gallery: (9/6/2019) Field Hockey vs. Towson, 9/6/19
"It's obviously very exciting. We've been working really hard, not just during preseason, but also since last spring, of making sure that we're making big improvements," said Lehigh head coach Caitlin Dallmeyer. "It's so nice to see everyone's hard paying off and being able to walk away from games with this great feeling. It's very much deserved by everyone on the team."
Along with improving to 2-0 and winning both their season and home openers for the first time since 2002, the Mountain Hawks have allowed just one goal through two goals, their fewest since 2000.
Just over seven minutes into the game, Pecora made a feed to Mullery near the top of the circle. Mullery blasted a low shot towards goal where Pecora made a redirection past Towson goalkeeper Tess Okkerse for a 1-0 lead. It marked Pecora's first goal since the 2017 campaign after missing last season due to injury. After a Towson shot was blocked less than four minutes in, the Mountain Hawks fired the next 10 shots until the Tigers' first shot on goal, which freshman Maddie Kahn stopped in the 29th minute.
Bonthuis took over to begin the second half, scoring just 1:08 into the third quarter. Mullery slipped a pass to the first-year in front of the goalkeeper, who beat new keeper Camille Pottillo with a wraparound, giving Lehigh a 2-0 advantage. Just over three minutes later, Bonthuis scored again from in close, making the score 3-0 at the 34:27 mark.
Before the third quarter was over, Pecora blasted a low shot for her second goal of the game, and season.
Towson added a mid fourth-quarter goal on a transition opportunity, but it wasn't nearly enough. In the end, the Mountain Hawks won their home opener for the third time in four years under Coach Dallmeyer.
Final shots were 21-6 in favor of Lehigh while the Mountain Hawks held a 10-2 edge in penalty corners.
"We wanted to make sure we had really high energy and were communicating very well," said Dallmeyer. "That's something we did well against Rider and in the first half, we didn't do that as well as we wanted to. We focused on how to make the adjustments to make sure we were all gelling together and making good decisions in front of the net. We made the adjustments and were able to make that change really quickly, which got us more energy. We fed off that, so we had a really, really good quarter. We then had to adjust to that last quarter to figure out how to game manage so we could secure the win."
Lehigh returns to action next weekend when it hosts Richmond next Friday (4 p.m.) and Georgetown on Sunday (12 p.m.).
Like Lehigh field hockey on Facebook, follow on Twitter and Instagram for continued updates on the Mountain Hawks.
Team Stats
TOWSON
LEHIGH
Goals
1
4
Shots
6
21
Shots on Goal
3
11
Saves
7
2
Corners
2
10
Offsides
0
0
Fouls
0
0
Scoring Plays
Pecora, Drew (1)
Assisted By: Mullery, Leah
#17 fed to #3 near top of circle, fired
7:17
Bonthuis, Sarah (1)
Assisted By: Mullery, Leah
#3 slipped towards goal, #20 wrapped aro
31:08
Bonthuis, Sarah (2)
#20 beat GK from in close.
34:27
Pecora, Drew (2)
Assisted By: Boyer, Amanda
#4 dished to #17 who blasted low show ho
44:02
Aljets, Samantha (1)
Assisted By: Beachley, Georgia
Passed up to #9 breakaway on goalkeeper,
52:28
Game Leaders
Shots
7
SOG
5
Goals
2
Assists
0
Shots
2
SOG
2
Goals
2
Assists
0
Shots
0
SOG
0
Goals
0
Assists
2
Shots
1
SOG
1
Goals
0
Assists
1
Players Mentioned
M
/ Field Hockey
GK
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