The Brown & White

After trailing 9-4 at halftime, the women's lacrosse team scored nine straight goals in the second half to earn a 15-12 victory over the Navy Midshipmen Saturday afternoon.

With the win, the Mountain Hawks improved to 7-5 on the season and 3-1 in the Patriot League. Navy dropped to 8-3 on the season and 2-2 in league play.

Sophomore attacker Inneke Carmola led the Hawks with four goals.

Junior attacker Sara MacIntyre scored three goals, while freshman attacker Lauren Dykstra added three goals as well to tie MacIntyre's single-season record for goals by a freshman with 47.

Lehigh Head Coach Liz Ota said the team rallied together at halftime for the win.

"I basically told them that we need to start playing our game again," Ota said. "Draw control was going to be key and that really made the difference in the second half. We were able to generate some fast break goals and we were also able to get in our own attacking pattern and move the ball around. Every single one of our attackers was a threat and that made a huge difference."

After five straight Lehigh goals to open the second half, MacIntyre scored her third goal of the game off an assist from Carmola to give the Hawks a 10-9 lead with 22:55 remaining in the second period.

Freshman midfielder Meg Decker scored Navy's first goal of the second half with 13:20 remaining to trim Lehigh's lead to 13-10.

Lehigh scored two more goals from Carmola and junior midfielder Tess McGrath to increase the Hawks' lead to 15-10 with 5:23 remaining.

The Mids scored two late goals to bring the final score to 15-12.

Dykstra's record-tying goal with 22:41 remaining in the second period gave the Hawks an 11-9 advantage.

Dykstra said she wasn't intimidated by Navy's physical play, despite being knocked down while scoring the first goal of the game.

"It was a hit to the head, but I don't really take it like that," she said. "I just go out there and play. I don't worry about the refs or about the hitting."

Navy's fast and aggressive play took some time for the Hawks to get used to, as the Mids jumped out to an 8-2 lead with 14:24 remaining in the first half.

Navy's leading scorer sophomore midfielder Erin Rawlick scored two of those eight goals.

Lehigh junior attacker Meagan Tenety and Carmola scored consecutive goals to cut Navy's lead to 8-4 with 11:19 remaining in the half, but Navy sophomore midfielder Mary Ruttum scored the final goal of the period to give the Mids a 9-4 advantage at the half. Ruttum went on to score four goals to lead the Mids.

Despite Lehigh's slow start, sophomore defender Jen Ingalls said she was confident her team could compete with Navy.

"We knew we were better, felt we were better and knew we had to come out and produce," Ingalls said. "After the first half, it was kind of scary, but we dug deep and pulled it out. [Navy] was kind of run and gun and would just drive every time. I think it just took a good thirty minutes to get used to it."

Ota said once Lehigh adjusted to Navy's style of play, they began controlling possessions and attacking on the offensive end.

"Possession is key," Ota said. "The draw controls started our possession and we were just able to do some really nice things with the ball in the second half and find the open player and move the goal keeper. We fired some great shots and each of our attackers were contributing."

Lehigh controlled 11 draws in the second half compared to the Midshipmen's four.

Dykstra said the team kept its composure throughout the entire game and began to initiate offensive attacks to take back the lead. The Hawks had 22 shots on goal in the second half. Navy had 10.

"The second half we stopped them at the midfield and also our attack was moving the ball faster," Dykstra said. "We kept possessing and kept our cool. We went into the half not thinking we were down. We put all our heart into the game and did everything we could to come back."

Hawks sophomore goalkeeper Kelsey Ferris ended the game with nine saves.

Navy's senior goalie Natalie Blandon had 12 saves.

Ota said the comeback victory was important for the Hawks.

"This win gives us a little bit of a step in the right direction in terms of getting into the tournament and we realize that it's anyone's game," Ota said. "The Patriot League teams are fairly equal in a lot of ways and we know we're right up there, we just have to play our game."

Lehigh hosts Marist College at the Ulrich Sports Complex on Tuesday at 7 p.m.