The Brown & White

The women's lacrosse team will host Navy in its first game since defeating Holy Cross College 17-9 last Saturday.

The Mountain Hawks come into the game 6-5 on the season, 2-1 in the Patriot League. Navy sits at 9-2 on the season, 2-1 in league play after defeating American University 13-12 on Tuesday.

Lehigh and Navy are currently tied for third in the Patriot League standings.

Freshman attacker Allison Thomas said the team will not settle for anything but a postseason birth.

"We hope to make the Patriot League tournament and I don't think that we will strive for less," Thomas said.

Thomas also said the team is expecting Navy to be one of the more physical and challenging opponents they will face this season.

"Navy definitely has some large and strong girls," Thomas said. "They are definitely scrappy and going to be hard to compete against."

Junior midfielder Tess McGrath said she agrees Navy will definitely be able to put up a good fight against the Hawks.

"Navy will be a tough and physical game as they have a few players that we will need to shut down," McGrath said.

Two players the Hawks will have to focus on in particular are sophomore midfielder Erin Rawlick and freshman midfielder Meg Decker. Rawlick is leading Navy with 40 goals on the season, while Decker is second on the team with 34 goals.

Thomas said the Hawks are much more aware of what it takes to win after suffering several one-goal losses earlier this season, and battling through those games has given them more confidence.

"Our previous games have shown that we must play with heart throughout the entire game and that we cannot let up or put our heads down for a second," she said. "We definitely need to continue our communication and intensity on defense and make sure that everyone is a threat on attack."

One-goal losses have certainly remained in the squad's mind, but sophomore attacker Inneke Carmola said the Hawks' strength comes from its power as a unit.

"We have all learned a little more about ourselves as people and as players," Carmola said. "We've figured out what each of our strengths and weaknesses are, which has improved our ability to work together on the field."

Lehigh's game against Holy Cross College was an example of this combined effect.

Saturday's game was a close matchup until the Hawks went on a 10-0 run in the second half and pulled away with a 17-9 victory. Freshman attacker Lauren Dykstra led the team with five goals, followed by Thomas with four and Carmola with three.

Junior attacker Sara MacIntyre scored twice during the game, bringing her season total to 26, which is second highest on the team.

Dykstra is now only four goals away from breaking MacIntyre's record of 47 freshman goals set in 2006. Dykstra was also named the Patriot League rookie of the week for the fifth time this season, tying the all-time record set by Colgate University's Katie McVeigh in 2003.

This was the first time the Hawks have beaten Holy Cross since 2003.

Carmola said the victory was a big accomplishment, and a testament to everyone on the team playing well.

"I think one of the big differences that we saw in this game was that we played together as a team," she said. "Every single player contributed in some way and we played as a unit."

Saturday's game against the Midshipmen is set to begin at 12 p.m. at the Ulrich Sports Complex.