Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 5/8/21
From Press Release
Philly grads Emily Wills (Agnes Irwin) and Katie Detwiler (Archbishop Carroll) enjoyed big days as host and No. 9 Loyola jumped out to a 9-2 lead late in the first half and toppled Lehigh 11-6 today in the Patriot League championship.
Wills scored three goals to help lead the Loyola (11-2) attack and defender Detwiler collected six groundballs, four draw controls and two caused turnovers.
The loss ended a memorable season for Lehigh, which reached the league title game for the first time since 2010.
“This team never gives up,” said Lehigh head coach Jill Redfern. “Really proud of our second-half effort after getting in that hole in the first half, but Loyola’s goalkeeper really was a difference-maker in the game. Best of luck to them representing the league. I thought our team had a tremendous season.”
Lehigh had advanced to Saturday’s championship game behind two hard-fought wins over Navy (13-12, overtime) and Army West Point (10-8) in the quarterfinals and semifinals, respectively.
Graduate student Sondra Dickey (Conestoga) led Lehigh with team highs in goals (3), points (4) and caused turnovers (4). In the process, she became the program’s all-time leader for caused turnovers in a season (41). Dickey ended the season with 26 caused turnovers over her final six games. She also graduates as the program’s all-time leader for caused turnovers in a career (118).
Dickey, sophomore Gabby Schneider and graduate student Alexandra Ladda (Harriton) were all named to the Patriot League All-Tournament Team.
The Greyhounds opened leads of 4-0, 6-1 and later 9-3 with 46 seconds left in the first half. Dickey responded with three seconds left in the first half to pull the Mountain Hawks within 9-3 at the half.
The second half saw no scoring from either side for the first 11:41 until Carnevale converted a free-position shot. Loyola answered, but goals from Schneider (at 14:58) and Dickey (at 8:59) got the Mountain Hawks within 10-6. That’s the closest they would come, and the Greyhounds added an insurance goal at the 5:47 mark for the 11-6 final.
Final shots were 30-22 in favor of Loyola while the Greyhounds held a 19-10 edge in groundballs and 13-6 advantage in draw controls. Senior Samantha Sagi made seven saves, including stopping four-of-six sent her way in the second half. Loyola’s Kaitlyn Larsson finished with 11. Lehigh’s defense shined bright down the stretch, allowing just two goals over the game’s final 30:46.
