Mountain Hawks head to #2 North Carolina for Tuesday matchup
Posted: 03/05/2012
BETHLEHEM, Pa. - Coming off a solid 11-9 win against Robert Morris, the Lehigh women’s lacrosse team heads to #2 North Carolina Tuesday to face the Tar Heels. Opening draw is set for 5 p.m. The Mountain Hawks and Tar Heels have never met in women’s lacrosse.
Lehigh bounced back from a tough loss to Temple by topping Robert Morris, 11-9 last time out. The squad opened a 4-2 lead late in the first half after junior Megan Kelly scored her third of the game off a free position shot. Robert Morris responded with two of the next three goals to pull within 5-4 then pulled back to 7-5, but the Mountain Hawks had an answer.
Four straight Lehigh goals, capped off by two straight Kelly Draper tally then a Julie McBrien goal (assisted by Draper), made it 11-5. The Colonials scored the game’s final four goals, but it wasn’t nearly enough as the Mountain Hawks held on.
Freshman Allison Fayans was solid in her first-career start, making eight saves for her first-career victory. McBrien and freshman Carli Sukonik were both honored for their efforts with Patriot League weekly awards. McBrien was named Defensive Player of the Week after five caused turnovers over two games, while Sukonik was named Rookie of the Week behind two goals and career-high six draw controls against Robert Morris.
A defending National Semifinalist, North Carolina is a perfect 6-0 on the season, beating Florida, Liberty, Richmond, Albany, Vanderbilt and Penn. Abbey Friend leads the offense with 21 points via 19 goals and two assists while Laura Zimmerman is next up at 18 points (13 goals, five assists). Two others have 17 points, including Becky Lynch, who also has a team-leading 14 draw controls; Brittney Copa is next up with 11. Emily Garrity owns a team-leading nine groundballs. Lauren Maksym has started every game in goal, posting a 7.38 GAA and 48.1 save percentage.
Tuesday will mark the first-ever meeting with North Carolina.
The Mountain Hawks will return to action on Saturday when the squad heads to Colgate for their Patriot League opener.