Nov. 4, 2011
Box Score
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Second seeded Lafayette sprinted out to a 4-0 halftime lead against No. 3 Lehigh in the Patriot League Tournament Semifinals, and cruised to 8-0 win over the Mountain Hawks on Friday afternoon at Jacobs Field. With the win, Lafayette advances to the Patriot League Championship game for the third consecutive year in pursuit of its first League title since 2002.
Lafayette opened the scoring 10:32 into the first half on a tally from sophomore Aimee Smith. Patriot League Offensive Player of the Year, Deanna DiCroce took a pass in the center of the circle and fed it to Smith, who took a touch and fired a shot past Lehigh goalkeeper Sierra Segear. Smith's marker was her seventh of the season and stood up to be the game-winner.
Just 2:13 later, DiCroce again set-up Lafayette's second goal, this time finding Haley Keenan on the near post for the tip-in goal. Keenan's score was her first of the year.
Maria Machalick continued the scoring for Lafayette, taking advantage of a penalty corner opportunity. Jenna Seybert ripped a shot from the top of the circle, which Machalick put a stick on and deflected into the cage, giving LC a 3-0 advantage.
DiCroce picked up her third assist of the game 21:10 into the opening half. The junior positioned herself in front of Segear and deflected a pass over her head. Hanna Sotiropoulos was standing in front of the cage and batted the deflection into the empty goal, giving LC a 4-0 lead it would take into the break.
In the second half, Smith, Machalick and DiCroce scored three times in a span of 2:41. Smith and Machalick each added their second goal of the game and DiCroce's tally increased the margin to 7-0 with 21:10 to play.
Emily Valeo put the finishing touches on the victory, tipping in a shot from Patriot League Rookie of the Year Brittany Blass, with less than two minutes showing on the clock. Blass finished the game with two assists while Valeo contributed three points.
The Maroon and White held the advantage statistically, outshooting Lehigh 39-7, while also taking 13 corners compared to five for the Mountain Hawks. Segear made 18 saves for Lehigh and Jessica Deutsch turned away four shots in the victory.
The second seeded Leopards take on the fourth seed, Bucknell, tomorrow afternoon at 1 p.m. at Jacobs Field. The Bison knocked off top-seeded American 3-2 in the first semifinal matchup.
