Lehighsports.com

BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Down 3-1 early in the second half, Lehigh mounted a furious rally to tie the game at three but Christine Weiss’ goal at the 56:44 mark proved to be the difference as Bucknell held on to defeat the Mountain Hawks 4-3 Saturday afternoon at Ulrich Field. Senior Morgan Christopher and freshman Kim Eng each scored a goal and added an assist for Lehigh which falls to 4-7 overall and 1-1 in the league. Bucknell improves to 8-4 and tops the league standings at 2-0.

“I was pleased with the way we stayed in the game and were able to fight back,” said Lehigh head coach Julie Mazer. “We had some chances late at an equalizer, but overall we need to do better with our tackles and take better care of the ball.

Mazer continued, “I liked that once Bucknell went up 3-1 our reaction was to fight hard and stay in the game and that’s what we did.”

The visiting Bison capitalized on several early penalty corner chances and took a 1-0 lead just 1:33 into the contest when Tayler Siegrist scored on a rebound from in front of the goal cage.

Lehigh pulled even at the 15:20 mark when Chrisopher slid a pass to the back post that freshman Kelsey Zeswitz tapped in for her first career goal.

Bucknell went in front again with ten minutes to play in the half was Siegrist fed Kelly Bruvik who was open in the middle of the circle. Bruvik beat junior Lilia Stefaniwsky for her second goal of the season to give the Bison a 2-1 lead at the half. Bucknell out-shot Lehigh 12-3 in the first half and had nine corners to the Mountain Hawks two.

Two minutes into the second half Bucknell extended its lead as Bruvik scored again off a feed from Corrine Raczek.

The second Bison goal seemed to awaken the Mountain Hawks who fought their way back into the contest. Four minutes after Bruvik’s second goal, Lehigh pulled within one when Christopher deflected in Eng’s drive off a penalty corner for her fourth goal of the season. Lehigh tied the game 1:26 later when Eng took a feed from sophomore Madison Ingal at the far post and put home her ninth goal of the season.

From there the physical play picked up with players from each teams being issued yellow cards.

The Bison took the lead at the 56:44 when Weiss drove the ball into the cage off a corner opportunity for her fourth goal of the season. Lehigh continued to battle, earning three consecutive corners in the final four minutes, but the Mountain Hawks were unable to create an equalizer.

For the game Bucknell held a 23-8 advantage in shots and a 14-7 edge in penalty corners. Stefaniwsky made 12 saves for the Mountain Hawks, while juniors Taryn Hartzell and Lauren Cawley each made defensive saves for the Brown and White.

“We did well to stick to our game plan,” said Mazer. “We didn’t shy away from that, but we need to take better care of the ball and do a better job of finishing on plays when we get those opportunities.”

The Mountain Hawks will return to action on Wednesday when they wrap-up their home schedule against Fairfield. Game time is set for 4 p.m. from Ulrich Field and all the action can be seen at Lehighsports.com.