Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 2/17/22
From Drexel & Lehigh Press Releases
Saint Joseph’s senior Lauren Figura (Lenape) matched her career-high with six goals as the Hawks came from behind for a 13-11 victory over Lehigh on Wednesday afternoon at Sweeney Field.
HOW IT HAPPENED
• Lehigh (0-1) had control of the game early, taking a 7-2 lead after a quarter. The Hawks responded in the second, as Figura scored four times, two on assists from Lisa Ross, to cut it to a 9-6 deficit at halftime.
• Ross and Figura would kick off the second half the way they ended the first, with each tallying a goal before Rilea Fusco tied the game at 9-9 on a feed from Figura with 10:26 to go in the third.
• The visitors scored twice to open an 11-9 lead heading into the fourth, but the Hawk defense shut the doors after that. Fusco fed Figura 30 seconds into the frame before Sydney Foster rifled home on a free position shot to tie the game at 11-11 with 9:24 to play.
• Maggie Davidson put SJU on top 40 seconds later before Foster struck again to extend the lead with 8:08 to go.
• From there, the Hawks held possession and prevented the Mountain Hawks from cashing in on the opportunities they had. Jorden Concordia made three saves in the final quarter while the defense forced three turnovers to seal the win.
Freshman Maddie Yoder (Springfield-Montco) added a goal and three draw controls for the Hawks.
The starting attack for Lehigh combined for nine goals and four assists, with each scoring multiple times. Making her Lehigh debut, sophomore Hayley Hunt (Penn Charter) finished with 13 saves in a strong performance between the pipes.
Wednesday was a matchup of teams that advanced to its respective conference finals last season – Saint Joseph’s in the Atlantic 10 and Lehigh in the Patriot League.
Offensively, junior Gabby Schneider tallied a team-high five points via two goals and three assists. Sophomore Olivia Memeger (Strath Haven) scored three goals for her first-career hat trick, while juniors Emma Eberhardt and Katia Carnevale each scored twice.
Senior Jenna Garden led the defense with two caused turnovers. Eberhardt and junior Cassie Marte (Spring-Ford) each recorded a team-high five draw controls. Sophomore Caroline Casey finished with a team-high three groundballs, along with a caused turnover.
