BETHLEHEM, Pa. (Sept. 17, 2008) – Senior Erin Reifsteck (Battle Creek, Mich./Saint Phillip) (Battle Creek, Mich. / Battle Creek) stopped six shots, but the Saint Francis offense couldn't find the back of the net in a 3-0 setback against Lehigh in non-conference field hockey action on Wednesday night at the Ulrich Sports Complex.
The Mountainhawks scored two goals in the final 2 minutes, 41 seconds to put the match out of reach.
Saint Francis drops to 1-5 on the season, and will try to regain its winning form with a Noon contest against Colgate on Sunday at DeGol Field.
A first half defensive struggle turned into a wide open second half as the Red Flash had several good chances. Lehigh had an 18-12 advantage in shots and a 7-4 edge in penalty corners for the game.
With 11:09 remaining in the first half, Saint Francis had the first good scoring opportunity of the game when freshman Julia Moore (Jarrettsville, Md./North Harford) (Jarretsville, Md. / North Harford) stole a Lehigh pass in the Red Flash offensive zone. Moore fed a long pass to senior Belen Albanes (Atlanta, Ga./Dunwoody) (Atlanta, Ga. / Dunwoody), who tried to one-time the pass by Mountainhawks goalkeeper Lilia Stefaniwsky, but the shot went just wide of the net.
It was just over a minute later when Lehigh's Kara Zweizig found herself at the end line with a good look at the net. She took a hard shot from about 10 feet out, but Reifsteck came out to the corner and knocked the shot away.
Kelly Fox had Lehigh's next opportunity with 6:11 remaining. A long pass down the middle of the field was targeted for the scoring circle and Fox was close to catching up with the pass when Reifsteck came out of the net to knock the pass away and thwart Fox's scoring chance.
But the Mountainhawks finally got to the Red Flash with time getting short in the first half. Lindsey Smith stole a Red Flash pass in the circle and beat Reifsteck to the lower right side of net.
Lehigh had a 7-3 edge in shots in the first half, and a 1-0 advantage in penalty corners.
Following a Mountainhawks shot off the post 12 minutes into the second half, the Red Flash countered with another outstanding opportunity. Sophomore Jordan Beaston (Shermans Dale, Pa./West Perry) (Shermans Dale, Pa. West Perry) stole a pass out of mid air at midfield, and fed a long pass into the circle. Albanes received the pass and fed another behind-the-back pass to sophomore Rebecca Reiff (Farmingdale, N.J./Wall) (Farmingdale, N.J. / Wall), who shot from 16 feet out, but Lehigh goalkeeper Jessica Miller came out to make a nice stop to keep the game scoreless with 22:59 remaining.
Just three minutes later, SFU had its first corner of the match nearly turn into its first goal. Reiff had another opportunity, but her shot went just wide right of the goal cage with 20:23 left.
The Mountainhawks nearly made it 2-0 with 6:02 remaining when Fox again found herself at point-blank range after a cross, but Reifsteck made a terrific save to keep the Red Flash within striking distance. Just 20 seconds later, Reifsteck made another save of a Abby Tilton shot. Reifsteck picked another shot out of mid air with 4:13 remaining in the game.
However, Zweizig took a free shot from just outside the circle that was deflected to the left corner, where Caitlin Donnelly tapped in to make it 2-0 with 2:41 remaining.
Madison Ingal added an insurance goal with 31 seconds remaining.
