April 11, 2011
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The No. 15 Penn State women's lacrosse team will begin its final home stand of the 2011 season on Tuesday when it hosts Lehigh (8-5) in a 4 p.m. game at Jeffrey Field.
In their last outing, Penn State (6-6) was within one goal of No. 2 Northwestern at halftime of its Friday night ALC clash but was outscored, 10-2, in the second half, and fell, 14-5, in Evanston. Five different Nittany Lions accounted for the team's goals, including one from senior midfielder Maggie Dunbar (Cockeysville, Md.), who led PSU with four points (1 goal, 3 assists). Junior goalkeeper Dana Cahill (Towson, Md.) recorded 11 saves against 34 Northwestern shots.
Last weekend, Lehigh dropped a heartbreaking, last-second 6-5 home decision to Virginia Tech. Senior Lauren Dykstra netted four goals for the Mountain Hawks, giving her a team high 58 for the season, to become the program's all-time leading scorer and move into 10th place in the NCAA record book. While Dykstra is Lehigh's top offensive weapon, Kelly Draper (19g, 24a), Allison Thomas (25g, 14a), and Megan Kelly (30g, 8a) also fuel an attack that averages 14 goals per game. The Mountain Hawk defense is equally strong, allowing an average of 8.69 goals per game.
Penn State has won all 19 of its prior meetings with the Mountain Hawks, including last season's 14-13 victory in Bethlehem. The Nittany Lions are 63-2 all-time versus Patriot League opponents, claiming decisive wins over Bucknell (22-2) and Lafayette (17-9) earlier this season.
Fans can follow all of the action of the Penn State-Lehigh clash with live stats and instant scoring updates from GameTracker. Find a link on the front page (click on Schedule/Results) of the official website of Nittany Lion athletics, www.GoPSUsports.com and on the women's lacrosse schedule page.
The Nittany Lions will finish out their 2011 home schedule on Sunday, April 17 when they welcome ALC rival Ohio State (6-4, 0-1) to Jeffrey Field for a 1 p.m. Senior Day contest. Ashley Boccio (Northport, N.Y.), Mary Dean (Wyncote, Pa.), Maggie Dunbar, Jackie Eastman (Springfield, Pa.), Megan Hollerbach (Annapolis, Md.), Laura Lesnick (Jarrettsville, Md.), Jen Steadman (Sykesville, Md.), and Katy Wick (Winter Springs, Fla.) will take the field for their final regular season game in a Penn State uniform. A special ceremony to honor their careers and contributions will precede the contest.
The conference clash will be televised by the Big Ten Network on a tape delay basis with the broadcast scheduled for 4 p.m. later that day. Penn State has won five straight versus the Buckeyes.
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