Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 1/27/18
From Press Release
One week into preseason, the Lehigh women’s lacrosse team is hard at work preparing for its season opener at home vs. St. Bonaventure on Feb. 10. The Mountain Hawks look to fill holes left by a decorated group of seniors, but they do return a strong core of players led by fifth-year senior and two-time first team All-Patriot League honoree Julianne D’Orazio (Merion Mercy).
Lehigh look to continue the program’s recent success, which includes 25 combined wins over the past two seasons – tied for the 22nd most wins in the nation in that span.
Lehigh’s first official practice of the spring was Saturday, Jan. 20. The first few practices have been about reviewing core principles that were implemented in the fall, then building from there.
“This first week, we’re reviewing everything that we worked on in fall competitions,” said Lehigh head coach Jill Redfern (Ursinus). “The team is working hard, its fitness level and enthusiasm is high. Those things are important in week one.”
The Mountain Hawks lost key players to graduation in former Patriot League Attacker of the Year Allison LaBeau (currently an assistant coach), midfielder Lauren Beausoleil and goalkeeper Taylor Tvedt, but a strong foundation returns. In total, the Mountain Hawks return nine of their top 11 scorers from last season, led by junior Courtney Henig (Notre Dame-NJ), who posted 51 points (22 goals, 29 assists), along with four total players who scored 20+ goals last season – D’Orazio (36 goals), senior Haley Wentzel (34, Boyertown), Henig (22) and sophomore Sondra Dickey (22, Conestoga).
“We’ve worked all fall to build up for this season,” said senior Kierstyn Voiro (Moorestpwn-NJ). “We did lose a few big players from last year, so we wanted to see how we could fill in those spots and who works well with each other. The beginning of this preseason was a lot about seeing who can play with each other and who’s coming out here every day and giving their 100 percent effort.”
Defensively, Lehigh returns seven of its top eight in caused turnovers, led by D’Orazio (35), Voiro (27) and senior Alexis King (22, Conestoga). Those three are serving as captains in 2018, with D’Orazio returning as a second-year captain
“It’s terrific to have Julianne back,” said Redfern. “She’s one of the best leaders we’ve ever had in our program and she’s irreplaceable as a leader.”
The 2018 Mountain Hawks are determined to continue, and build upon, their recent success. There is strong competition within practice and the players are ready to be at their very best every day and jump on opportunities when they arise.
“Each year, we have players who are better than they were the year before, and some significantly so,” said Redfern. “That’s exciting in our program; when roles open up to do a little more or be a little different on the field, we definitely have players who are ready to step into those jobs.”
Lehigh also welcomes a talented freshman class that will look for its opportunities.
“In the last couple years, it’s been harder to get a big role as a first-year player which is great because that means we have upperclass girls who are delivering on their jobs,” said Redfern. “The biggest role that’s going to be filled by a first-year is by Sam (Sagi) in the goal cage. We’ll definitely start her in the cage; that’s clear. I expect the rest of the core to bolster the roster.”
With their eyes on the Feb. 10 opener, the Mountain Hawks look to continue improving every day. Lehigh will be tested early as its February schedule includes home games against two of the final eight teams standing in last season’s NCAA Tournament – Penn State on Feb. 17 (who advanced to the Final Four) and Princeton on Feb. 27 (who reached the National Quarterfinals).
“Moving forward, we’re going to work on our zone a little bit so we have multiple defenses to play,” said Redfern. “The game has evolved so that you really can’t be one-dimensional defensively or offensively. Then, we’ll start really working on some of our more patterned offensive plays and ideas.”
Just as important as specific plays is Lehigh developing and meshing as a unit. The Mountain Hawks’ identity is beginning to come to the surface.
“One thing we really want to stress this year is being relentless,” said Voiro. “Coming out here every day, even if it’s cold or snowing, being relentless is something that we’re big on. That’s a big characteristic we’re looking to do this year.”