Lehigh’s women’s lacrosse’s terrific trinity leads them to win over Lafayette

On a cold spring evening at the Ulrich Sports Complex, the Lehigh women’s lacrosse team set out to play their closest rivals, the Lafayette Leopards. Lehigh has won their last three matches and will look to stretch its winning streak against Lafayette.

Lehigh has relied on a dynamic trio for scoring output this season, with 56% of their team’s goals coming from junior attackers, Gabby Schneider, Emma Eberhardt and Katia Carnevale. 

Leading the triad in scoring this season is Gabby Schneider. Schneider was named to the All-Patriot League first team last year, finishing the season with 46 points (21 goals and 25 assists).

Emma Eberhardt compliments Schneider excellently, having 17 assists already this season. Eberhardt finished with the second most assists for Lehigh last season, 23 assists, earning her a place in the All-Patriot League second team.

Junior attacker Katia Carnevale rounds out the trio, contributing 34 points this season, with 23 goals and 11 assists. Carnevale managed the tremendous feat of scoring six hattricks last season, with four coming consecutively in the final four games. 

Lehigh dominated from the outset, opening the scoring against Lafayette after seven minutes and 56 seconds, with a superb effort by senior attacker Nora Giordano. Lehigh attacked well in the first quarter, putting four past Lafayette sophomore Lexie Coldiron. Schneider would open her assist account for the evening, assisting Lehigh’s second and third goal. Schneider finished the match with seven assists, a Lehigh record.

“I think it’s all credit to my teammates, our spacing today was great, and I think that that really helped me see the open cutters so credit to them,” said Schneider when asked about her record-breaking assist total.

Carnevale equaled her career record for goals, scoring eight. She now has scored in six consecutive matches, having 19 goals during this period. This also breaks her personal goal record against Lafayette, which previously stood at five.

“It feels great,” Carnevale said. “It was nice to have that special connection with Gabby on the field. She always locks eyes with me and sees it coming, so I’m thankful for that.” 

Schneider was feeling generous, handing out a further assist to Emma Eberhardt, who finished the match with a hattrick of her own and an assist. Eberhardt’s fist goal came at a crucial time for Lehigh, stunting any momentum that Lafayette attempted to build after grabbing a goal of their own. Eberhardt finished out the scoring for Lehigh, scoring the sixteenth and final goal for the Mountain Hawks.

“(Carnevale and Schneider) have been playing together for a really long time – since their freshman year, so they know each other’s strengths and they kind of just let the ball do the work and trust each other and good things happen,” said associate head coach Sammy Cermack.

The junior trio brought their combined season points total to 147 points (84 goals and 63 assists).  Lehigh triumphed over Lafayette 16-6, with the talented juniors spearheading a convincing victory. Lehigh will look to their dynamic trinity to help them through their next match-up against Holy Cross this Saturday at home.