Lehigh heads to #2 Florida Tuesday night
Posted: 03/11/2013
GAINSEVILLE, Fla. - The Lehigh women’s lacrosse team will look to bounce back from a pair of losses Tuesday when it heads to #2 Florida to face the Gators. Opening draw is set for 6:30 p.m. Tuesday will mark the second ever meeting between the two sides after Lehigh hung tough in a 15-10 defeat two seasons ago.
The Mountain Hawks are coming off a 14-4 loss at Navy Saturday in the Patriot League opener for both sides. Sophomore Carli Sukonik led the way with two goals while sophomore Kelsey Yenco and senior Julie McBrien added the others. Junior Alexandra Fitzpatrick posted 11 saves for Lehigh while sophomores Lauren Willcox and Kelly Scott each had two caused turnovers.
Tuesday’s game precedes another Patriot League showdown as the Mountain Hawks host Colgate Saturday. Lehigh will be home for three straight and six of its next seven, with the only trip being to nearby Lafayette.
Florida enters a perfect 9-0 and ranked #2 in the nation. Kitty Cullen leads the team with 31 points (24 goals, seven assists) while Shannon Gilroy has 28 (27 goals, one assist), Ashley Bruns 25 (19 goals, six assists) and Brittany Dashiell 20 (14 goals, six assists). Emily Dohony owns a team-leading 16 groundballs and Sam Farrell leads the way in caused turnovers (11). Gilroy leads three Gators with more than 20 draw controls with 26. Mikey Meagher owns a 6.16 GAA And 51.0 save percentage between the pipes. Among Florida’s impressive wins include North Carolina, Loyola and Syracuse. The Gators advanced to the National Semifinals a season ago before falling to Syracuse 14-13.
Lehigh and Florida met for the first time two seasons ago. The Mountain Hawks hung tough, even leading 6-5 less than a minute into the second half, but the #14 Gators came back for the 15-10 victory. Lauren Dykstra and Megan Kelly each had a hat trick for Lehigh.
Tuesday’s game will air on Gainseville’s ESPN Radio 850/900. Click here to listen online.
Lehigh returns to the Ulrich Sports Complex on Saturday to host Colgate at 1 p.m.
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