Saturday, March 5
Ulrich Sports Complex
3:00 pm
Lehigh University
14
vs
11
Iona
Mountain Hawks beat Iona 14-11 for third straight win
3/5/2016 7:00:00 PM | Women's Lacrosse
BETHLEHEM, Pa. - The Lehigh women's lacrosse team jumped out to a 13-6 lead early in the second half, Iona responded, but the Mountain Hawks held on to beat the Gaels 14-11 on Saturday for their third straight win. Junior Allison LaBeau led Lehigh with a career-high eight points behind four goals and four assists while freshman Courtney Henig and senior Kendall Garden each tallied a hat trick.
"I'm happy to win," said Lehigh head coach Jill Redfern. "I don't think we played our best lacrosse today, but credit Iona. They played a much better second half and mounted a really good challenge."
LaBeau's four assists were also a career high as she's now tallied nine goals and five assists over her last two games. In the end, LaBeau had a hand in each of Lehigh's final six goals on the afternoon, tallying three goals and three assists in that span. She eclipsed 100 career points in the process, reaching 107 points just barely into her third collegiate season.
"Alli was terrific," said Redfern. "She's an equally good scorer and feeder. The fact that she can feed the ball after she draws a double team really helps our team."
Sophomore Haley Wentzel finished with two goals and an assist while senior Megan Paytas and junior Lauren Beausoleil each added a goal as well. In total, six different Mountain Hawks scored a goal. Sophomore Kayleen Kelly led the defense with three caused turnovers to tie a career high. Junior Julianne D'Orazio caused two caused turnovers while sophomore Kierstyn Voiro tallied a career-high six draw controls.
After Iona scored less than one minute into the game, the Mountain Hawks scored two in a 30-second span as goals from Garden and Wentzel, with 26:56 and 26:26 remaining, gave Lehigh a 2-1 lead. The teams went back and forth over the ensuing minutes, standing tied at two then again at four before the Mountain Hawks began creating separation.
Paytas scored her first goal of the season to give Lehigh a 5-4 lead and the Mountain Hawks wouldn't trail again. They went on to score three straight, four of the next five and nine of the next 11 goals as Lehigh took a 12-6 lead at the half and 13-6 lead early in the second half. LaBeau, had a hand in all four Lehigh goals over the final 6:57 of the first half.
With Lehigh leading 13-6, Iona scored five straight goals to pull within 13-11 with 14:34 still remaining. Lehigh's defense came up strong, not allowing a goal the rest of the way, and Mountain Hawks were able to run out the clock. A long possession ended with LaBeau's fourth goal and eighth point with 25 seconds remaining, giving Lehigh a 14-11 advantage which proved to be the final.
Final shots were 28-20 in favor of Lehigh while groundballs were even at 14. The Gaels held a 14-13 edge in draw controls while a pair of Iona goalkeepers combined for eight saves across junior Taylor Tvedt, who made six.
"I really think Kendall's leadership out there was outstanding," said Redfern. "She knows how to win a game and she wants the ball in her stick. She has great presence at the end of the game, Lauren Beausoleil too. A lot of our upperclass girls who have been in this position before carried the load. Alli was able to put a shot away to give us an insurance goal at the end."
The Mountain Hawks will travel to Lynchburg, Va. to face Liberty next Saturday (Mar. 12). Opening draw is set for 3 p.m. Lehigh then plays at Davidson on Tuesday, Mar. 15.
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