BETHLEHEM, Pa. – The Columbia lacrosse team won its second consecutive game Tuesday afternoon, defeating the Lehigh Mountain Hawks, 10-6, in the final game of a three-game road trip to open up the 2025 season.
"It's a great day when you can get out of Bethlehem with a W," Head Coach
Anne Murray said. "We played with grit for 60 minutes and were able to rely on a strong team performance."
With the victory the Lions improves to 2-1 on the young season. Meanwhile, Lehigh drops to 1-2.
Columbia opened up the scoring for the second straight game, as senior captain
Dani Falcone scored less than three minutes into the contest to give the Lions a 1-0 lead.
Maddie Brogan followed it up with a goal of her own just a bit over a minute after Falcone to extend the lead to 2-0. Lehigh responded with a goal, but
Cordelia Flemming and Brogan would score the next two goals for the Lions, both assisted by
Michelle Zhai, to give Columbia a 4-1 lead. Lehigh would then score their second goal of the game with under a minute remaining in the first quarter to cut Columbia's lead to 4-2 after one quarter of action.
The second quarter saw Lehigh grab the momentum early in the period, as the Mountain Hawks scored just 16 seconds into the quarter. Falcone responded with her second goal of the afternoon just a bit over a minute later to extend Columbia's lead back to two, at 5-3. However, Lehigh would score the final two goals of the quarter, sending the game into a 5-5 tie at halftime.
The third quarter, just like against Monmouth, is where the Lions took control of the game.
Anna Becker scored her second goal of the season five minutes into the second half, and
Cecelia Messner scored her first goal of the game later in the period, while the Lions defense held Lehigh scoreless the entire third quarter to take a 7-5 lead into the final frame.
Becker scored her third goal of the season, and second of the game, five minutes into the fourth quarter to extend the lead to 8-5. Messner would then score her second goal of the half to give Columbia a 4-0 run to add on to their lead to make it 9-5. Lehigh would finally get on the board with 6:36 remaining in the fourth, but Messner would secure a hat trick just over a minute later to put the finishing touches on the 10-6 win.
The scoring was balanced for the Lions yet again on Tuesday, with six different players scoring a goal. Messner led the way for the Lions in both points, with four, and goals, with three. Becker, Brogan and Falcone each added two goals apiece, and Flemming added one. Zhai chipped in three points in the contest, all on assists.
"It was great to see Cece and Anna finding the back of the net on attack and Michelle really provided a spark with her three assists," Murray said.
On the defensive end, it was another strong team effort for the Lions, led by Flemming, who finished the game with a team-high four caused turnovers, as well as adding four ground balls.
Ava Kimche was terrific in goal, recording double digit saves again with 10 saves while only allowing six goals. Kimche also had a team-high five ground balls.
"Cordelia really pushed our defensive unit forward causing turnover after turnover, and once again,
Ava Kimche was stand out in cage," Murray said.
The Lions managed to come away with the victory even though Lehigh won the draw control battle by a 12-6 margin. The Lions were able to overcome losing in the circle by turning the ball over only 11 times compared to Lehigh's 19 turnovers. Columbia was also a near perfect 20-21 clears for the second consecutive game, and also held an advantage in shots-on-goal, 21-16.
Columbia will return home for the first time in 2025, as they host the Sacred Heart Pioneers with their sights set on a three-game winning streak for the first time since the 2017 season. Opening draw is set for Saturday at 11:00 a.m.
"We are happy to see more players finding their groove and know we have more work ahead of us to be ready for our best showing against Sacred Heart! Murray closed."
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