April 23, 2011
Box Score
Annapolis, Md. - The Navy women's lacrosse team (12-5, 4-2 PL) dropped a 15-13 game to Lehigh (10-6, 5-1 PL) on Saturday afternoon at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in front of 1,316 fans to conclude its regular season schedule. Lehigh has earned Patriot League Regular Season Co-Champion honors with Colgate (5-1 PL), but Colgate claims the number one seed and hosting responsibilities for the upcoming PL Tournament. No. 3 Navy will get a rematch against No. 2 Lehigh on Thursday.
"Obviously it was a disappointing loss, but it was to a very tough team in Lehigh," head coach Cindy Timchal said. "We thought we could respond in the second half, but some things didn't seem to go our way. It wasn't the best shooting effort for us and we have some things we need to work on defensively."
Sophomore Jasmine DePompeo (5 goals, 1 assist) and senior Caitlin Mandrin Hill (3 goals, 2 assists) gave valiant offensive performances for Navy, but the Mids couldn't seem to close the gap during the second half.
Lehigh built up a small margin in the first half, aided by three straight goals under 10 minutes to go, but sophomore Kathy Young scored on an unassisted tally before halftime to close the game to 6-8.
Navy then scored the first two goals of the second half on tallies from freshman Aimee Gennaro and DePompeo to tie the game at 8-8. This prompted Lehigh to make a goalie change, bringing in MaryLeah DiNisco.
Lehigh then regained control of the game, scoring three straight times and on five of the next six to push the lead to 13-9 with 13:08 to go in the half.
Mandrin Hill and DePompeo scored back-to-back goals to pull the game to 13-11, but Lehigh answered with a goal of its own to push the deficit back to three.
Freshman Jill Coughlin then scored just 16 seconds later, but a pair of big saves from DiNisco held Navy off until Lauren Dysktra scored with 3:00 to go to put Navy up 15-12.
DePompeo scored on a feed from Mandrin Hill just 18 seconds later, but the Mids would get no closer.
DePompeo's six points in the game gave her an impressive 32 over six Patriot League games this season, an average of 5.33 points per game. DePompeo leads Navy with 47 goals, 30 assists and 77 points on the season.
Young posted a goal, an assist, four ground balls and three draw controls and freshman Molly Hamilton earned five draw controls in the game, with four coming in the second half.
After losing the draw control battle in the first half, 10-5, Navy regained its composure and won 11 of 15 draw in the second to earn the edge on the day, 16-14. Navy also outshot Lehigh 34-22.
Navy was whistled for five yellow cards, compared to just one for Lehigh and Navy's top defender, Kierstin King, was ejected after her second card of the game with 4:39 left in the second half. King had two ground balls and two caused turnovers.
Dykstra ended the game with four goals for Lehigh and Allison Thomas had three goals and an assist.
Lehigh is now 4-0 in regular season games against Navy, but the Mids do hold a 2-0 record against the Mountain Hawks in Patriot League Tournament play. Navy will look to continue that trend with a win over Lehigh in the semifinals on Thursday in Hamilton. The game time has not yet been determined.
"Now we get them again," Timchal said. "It's a quick turnaround for us, we have some things to sort out, but we will see how it all unfolds on Thursday."
