Sept. 28, 2013

(2-7, 0-2) 1 2 Final Lehigh 0 1 1 Lafayette 3 1 4 Box Score (3-5, 1-0)

Bethlehem, Pa. - Lafayette beat Lehigh, 4-1 in its Patriot League opener on Saturday. The Leopards improved to 1-0 in the League and 3-5 overall, while the Mountain Hawks dropped to 0-2 in the Patriot League and 2-7 overall.

The Leopards took advantage of their second penalty corner with less than 15 minutes to play in the opening frame, as Brittany Blass fired home her second goal of the season. Kelsey Mead took the corner and Kirby Szalkowski stopped the ball for Blass at the top of the circle.

Lafayette threatened in the 29^th minute with a scramble in front off of a penalty corner, and earned another corner. On the ensuing corner, Blass took the shot from the top of the circle that was deflected by Mead into the back of the cage, to give the Leopards a 2-0 lead with five minutes left in the first half.

In the final minute of the first half, the Maroon and White extended the lead to 3-0. Haley Keenan finished off a rebound in front on a shot from Mead. The Leopards outshot Lehigh 11-1 in the first half and 8-0 in shots on goal.

Lehigh cut the deficit to, 3-1 just 23 seconds into the second period. The Mountain Hawks continued to apply pressure early in the half, but Jessica Deutsch was equal to the test stopping back-to-back shots.

A penalty corner with less than four minutes to go pushed the Lafayette lead to 4-1. Blass scored her third goal of the game on a feed from Hannah Millen.

Deutsch improved to 3-5 on the season, making three saves in the win, while Lehigh's Julia Ward dropped to 2-6 on the season. Mead finished the afternoon with a pair of assists, while Millen and Szalkowski each had helpers.

Lafayette returns to action tomorrow afternoon against Rutgers at 2 p.m. at Rappolt Field. Tomorrow's game will be Cancer Awareness Game with a suggested five dollar donation from all fans. All proceeds will go towards Pancreatic Cancer Action Network.