By Jake Adams
Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 3/25/11
Visiting Lehigh used a balanced attack and strong goaltending to defeat struggling Temple, 18-6, Thursday in non-conference women’s lacrosse action.
Freshman goalie Alexandra Fitzpatrick made a career-high 16 saves and five Mountain Hawks finished with four or more points as the Mountain Hawks improved to 5-4.
Sophomore Megan Kelly paced the offense with a career-high tying four goals and five points.
“Having balanced scoring is a sign of a good team,” said Lehigh head coach Jill Redfern (Ursinus). “I was really happy we got a quality goalkeeping performance as well.”
Fitzpatrick made 10 of her 16 saves after halftime to hold the Owls to only two second-half goals. The 16 saves marked the most for a Lehigh goalie in more than three years when Kelsey Ferris made 18 on Mar. 21, 2008 against Canisius.
“I thought she made some really nice point-blank saves at critical times that allowed us to stop their momentum and let us regroup,” said Redfern.
The win also marked Lehigh’s first-ever victory against the Owls in the teams’ first matchup since 1993. Temple had won the previous 13 meetings.
Junior Kelly Draper posted her second straight six-point game, tallying three goals and three assists. Sophomore Anna Patterson added three goals and two assists, senior Allison Thomas (Conestoga) added three goals and an assist and senior Lauren Dykstra had two goals and two assists.
Sophomore Julie McBrien also added a pair of goals while freshman Chelsea Retaleato netted the other. Junior Leigh Ann Torcivia was tremendous all game with five draw controls and five groundballs. Junior Lauren Murray finished with three draw controls, two groundballs and two caused turnovers.
Jackie Mercer led the Owls (1-7) with three goals while Karly Cohen, Charlotte Swavola (Cheltenham) and Missy Schweitzer (Owen J. Roberts) each scored once.
“This is not the kind of game we wanted to play today,” Temple coach Bonnie Rosen said. “We were pretty sure we were ready to bring our ‘A-game’ and take it to Lehigh.”
Lehigh jumped to an early 4-0 lead and led 9-4 at halftime. The only goals the Owls got in the second half came off two consecutive shots by Mercer.
“We were trying but we weren’t getting back down to the basics and that’s really what it comes down to,” Mercer said.
One positive for the Owls was the defensive play of Allison McWilliams (Avon Grove) in the Hawks’ leading scorer, Dykstra (36 goals).
“We knew they were a strong team and had some great scoring power,” Rosen said. “And with that we put [McWilliams] to mark out Dykstra and she did a fantastic job.”
Temple is still looking for that winning combination after suffering its sixth straight loss. The Owls face Lafayette at home on Tuesday in their final non-conference game and then close with seven straight Atlantic-10 Conference games.
“It’s been tough but hopefully we’ll pick it up after this,” Mercer said.
Lehigh sports information contributed to this article
