Saturday, October 9
Bethlehem, Pa.
11 a.m.
Lehigh University
(8-4, 3-1PL)
0
vs
2
American
(7-3, 3-0PL)
1
2
3
4
F
American
0
0
0
2
2
Lehigh
0
0
0
0
0
Photo by: Justin Lafleur
Two Fourth-Quarter Goals Lift No. 23 American Past Lehigh, 2-0
10/9/2021 3:47:00 PM | Field Hockey
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – The Lehigh field hockey stood toe-to-tie with the 23rd ranked team in the country for more than three quarters, but American scored in the 49th and 53rd minutes to beat the Mountain Hawks, 2-0 on Saturday afternoon. The game marked a battle of unbeaten Patriot League teams entering the day. The Eagles improve to 3-0 (7-3 overall) while Lehigh falls to 3-1 (8-4 overall). Saturday was the Mountain Hawks' first home defeat of the season, snapping a four-game winning streak overall.
"With the hope that we'll be going to the Patriot League Tournament, this isn't the game we had to win," said Lehigh head coach Caitlin Dallmeyer. "The game we have to win is at the tournament. We need to learn how to play with this caliber of a team before we can learn to beat them. We played a great three quarters; we lost the game in the fourth quarter. That's a lot better than we've done in the past. We have to figure out how mentally to sustain this level of a game for four quarters and that was really difficult for us today."
The Mountain Hawks came out strong, holding a 5-0 first-quarter shots edge, three of which were on goal. Very early, in the game's fourth minute, fifth-year senior Drew Pecora had a strong chance from in close, which was saved by American goalkeeper Bryn Underwood. Underwood also stopped the rebound.
In the eighth minute, Pecora had another chance from a great spot, but the ensuing shot was just wide of the right post. The quarter also saw an unsettled break towards cage, but Underwood defended the play well before a good shot could get off.
"I do think [getting a goal in the first quarter] could have changed the game for us," said Dallmeyer. "We've only been shut-out twice this season. I think at times, we struggle in those moments where there's long deficits of no goals being scored on our end to maintain momentum. We thrive off those goals being scored. So without that today, I think it was hard for us to sustain the level and the pressure on attack we needed to be able to put the ball in the cage. We had opportunities and we need to be able to finish. Today, it just didn't happen."
Momentum changed in the second quarter when American fired all six shots, five of which were stopped by Lehigh junior goalkeeper Maddie Kahn – including multiple highlight-reel stops – as the Mountain Hawks' defense kept the game scoreless at the half.
American's offense came quickly in the fourth. First, Hannah Moser finished a pass from Gaby De Kock at the 48:37 mark, then less than four minutes later off a corner, Merel Dupont gave the Eagles a 2-0 advantage. Lehigh did enter the circle on multiple occasions down the stretch, but couldn't get a shot off or create a corner.
Final shots were 14-5 in favor of American while the Eagles held a 3-1 edge in penalty corners. Kahn finished with seven saves across Underwood, who made three.
The Mountain Hawks quickly return to the field on Sunday as they remain home to host Temple at 1 p.m. on ESPN+.
Like Lehigh field hockey on Facebook, follow on Twitter and Instagram for continued updates on the Mountain Hawks.
Gallery: (10-9-2021) Field Hockey vs. #23 American, 10/9/21
"With the hope that we'll be going to the Patriot League Tournament, this isn't the game we had to win," said Lehigh head coach Caitlin Dallmeyer. "The game we have to win is at the tournament. We need to learn how to play with this caliber of a team before we can learn to beat them. We played a great three quarters; we lost the game in the fourth quarter. That's a lot better than we've done in the past. We have to figure out how mentally to sustain this level of a game for four quarters and that was really difficult for us today."
The Mountain Hawks came out strong, holding a 5-0 first-quarter shots edge, three of which were on goal. Very early, in the game's fourth minute, fifth-year senior Drew Pecora had a strong chance from in close, which was saved by American goalkeeper Bryn Underwood. Underwood also stopped the rebound.
In the eighth minute, Pecora had another chance from a great spot, but the ensuing shot was just wide of the right post. The quarter also saw an unsettled break towards cage, but Underwood defended the play well before a good shot could get off.
"I do think [getting a goal in the first quarter] could have changed the game for us," said Dallmeyer. "We've only been shut-out twice this season. I think at times, we struggle in those moments where there's long deficits of no goals being scored on our end to maintain momentum. We thrive off those goals being scored. So without that today, I think it was hard for us to sustain the level and the pressure on attack we needed to be able to put the ball in the cage. We had opportunities and we need to be able to finish. Today, it just didn't happen."
Momentum changed in the second quarter when American fired all six shots, five of which were stopped by Lehigh junior goalkeeper Maddie Kahn – including multiple highlight-reel stops – as the Mountain Hawks' defense kept the game scoreless at the half.
The Eagles held a 4-0 edge in third and fourth-quarter shots. Kahn made a third-quarter save, while senior Leah Mullery made a defensive stop seconds later.In case you didn't realize by now, Maddie Kahn is quite flexible. When you think you have her beat, she finds a way to stop it ❌🚫#SCTop10 | #PLTop3 pic.twitter.com/rjX3bq8pJQ
— Lehigh Field Hockey (@LehighFH) October 9, 2021
American's offense came quickly in the fourth. First, Hannah Moser finished a pass from Gaby De Kock at the 48:37 mark, then less than four minutes later off a corner, Merel Dupont gave the Eagles a 2-0 advantage. Lehigh did enter the circle on multiple occasions down the stretch, but couldn't get a shot off or create a corner.
Final shots were 14-5 in favor of American while the Eagles held a 3-1 edge in penalty corners. Kahn finished with seven saves across Underwood, who made three.
The Mountain Hawks quickly return to the field on Sunday as they remain home to host Temple at 1 p.m. on ESPN+.
Like Lehigh field hockey on Facebook, follow on Twitter and Instagram for continued updates on the Mountain Hawks.
Team Stats
AMERICAN
LEHIGH
Goals
2
0
Shots
14
5
Shots on Goal
10
3
Saves
3
8
Corners
3
1
Offsides
0
0
Fouls
0
0
Scoring Plays
Moser, Hannah (1)
Assisted By: De Kock, Gaby
Quick break into cage, #11 to #6 who sco
48:37
Dupont, Merel (3)
Assisted By: Coenen, Noor
Off corner, #20 passed to right post, #9
52:13
Game Leaders
Players
Shots
3
SOG
2
Goals
0
Assists
0
Shots
1
SOG
0
Goals
0
Assists
0
Shots
1
SOG
1
Goals
0
Assists
0
Players Mentioned
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