In a repeat of last year’s Patriot League semifinals, the Lehigh women’s lacrosse team fell to No. 13 Navy in an 18-7 loss Wednesday night on the road.
The Mountain Hawks (6-5, 1-2 PL) couldn’t catch a break as Navy (8-2, 3-0) dominated the clock for the entire game, never letting up even as its lead became insurmountable. Navy was tabbed first in the Patriot League preseason poll to defend its league title. The league leader’s dominance showed through in its 33 shots, 24 of which were on goal. Lehigh took 22 shots, 11 of which were on goal.
Freshman goalie Samantha Sagi had six saves on the night. Sophomore midfielder Sondra Dickey led the team in scoring with four goals. Junior attacker Courtney Henig followed with two goals and junior attacker Kellie Gough had one.
In a high point for the Mountain Hawks, senior defender Kayleen Kelly and Dickey both broke the Lehigh school record for most draw controls in a season with 50 for Kelly and 48 for Dickey.
Dickey opened the game by scoring the first goal, but Navy ran past Lehigh with a six-point run to take a lead that the team never gave up. Each team put up two more points, and Lehigh headed into the break down by five, 8-3.
Navy started off the second half with a goal, and the Mountain Hawks answered with a three-point run to close the gap, 9-6. The defending league champions responded by taking off on an eight-point run to seal the victory. Each team scored one more goal before Navy claimed the 18-7 victory.
Prior to falling to Navy, Lehigh coach Jill Redfern said the team has continued to improve throughout the course of the season in an attempt to make another strong showing in league play.
“(The team is) becoming resilient, which is going to be necessary for league play,” Redfern said.
While the Mountain Hawks weren’t able to recover in tonight’s contest, the team will look to come back from its second league loss in a row. The Mountain Hawks have also been coping with the loss of freshman midfielder Hannah Cermack and fifth-year midfielder Julianne D’Orazio to season-ending ACL injuries earlier this year. D’Orazio has since taken on more of a coaching role to support the team from the sidelines.
Lehigh will hit the road again to travel to Army West Point on Saturday in an attempt to turn league play around.
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