ANNAPOLIS, Md. - Lehigh outscored Navy 6-1 over a 12-minute, eight-second span in the second half en route to recording a 11-7 win over the host Midshipmen on a rainy Saturday afternoon at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium.

With the win, the visiting Mountain Hawks (9-5, 3-2 PL) pull in front of Navy (9-4, 3-2 PL) by virtue of the head-to-head victory and move into third place in the Patriot League standings with only one week remaining in the regular season.

The Mids currently sit in the fourth and final spot, but will most likely need a win at Bucknell next Saturday to secure a berth into the 2009 league tournament.

Navy can also get into the league playoff without a win next week, but will need some help if that scenario were to play itself out. The Mids can also get in with either a Holy Cross loss at American or a Lehigh victory at home over Colgate.

The Mids trailed 4-2 after a tight first half. Lehigh's Inneke Carmola scored twice in the game's first 4:09 to help stake the Mountain Hawks to a early 2-1 lead.

Navy sophomore Katrina Nietsch (New Canaan, Conn.) would then even the score at 14:07 on a free position tally, but the conference's top goal scorer Lauren Dykstra netted her first of three goals on the afternoon to put the visitors back in front, 3-2, with 10:35 left in the half. The Mountain Hawks would capitalize on a late Navy turnover and score with just 21 ticks to grab a 4-2 lead into the break.

Navy came out blazing in the second half, reeling off three unanswered goals and staking claim to a 5-4 advantage. Nietsch and junior Erin Rawlick (Forest Hill, Md.) scored back-to-back tallies over a 15-second span at the 27:33 and 27:18 marks respectively.

Freshman Dani Vivonetto (Rocky Point, N.Y.) then got into the act, scoring off the feed from sophomore Caitlin Mandrin Hill (Annapolis, Md.) to give the Mids their first lead of the day and prompt the Mountain Hawks to call a timeout and talk things over with 25:22 remaining.

Led by Dykstra, Lehigh responded immediately off the restart as the talented sophomore attacker scored only eight seconds after Vivonetto's go-head tally to even the game at 5-5. Megan Tenety put the Mountain Hawks in front for good just 1:23 later and Dykstra added her third goal of the day to cap the 4-0 Lehigh spurt.

Rawlick would add a pair of second-half goals, helping to cut the Mids' deficit to two, but Navy would draw no closer on the afternoon.

Lehigh outshot Navy by a 27-18 margin, collected 19 ground balls to the Mids' 11 and converted two-of-six eight-meter attempts (Navy finished 1-4). The two teams split the contest's 20 draw controls, taking 10 apiece.

On the day, Rawlick led the Mids with a game-high four goals, Nietsch added a pair of scores and sophomore Caitlin Mandrin Hill (Annapolis, Md.) contributed three assists.

Freshman goalie Elaina Ponchione (Silver Spring, Md.) was excellent in the cage despite taking the loss. Ponchione made nine saves, including eight in the first half.

Navy remains home to host Robert Morris in a non-conference matchup on Tuesday, beginning at 4:00 pm.

Notes: Saturday marked the program's 30th game (22-8; .733) ... Rawlick has now scored a goal in each of Navy's 30 career games, currently the seventh-longest streak nationally.

2009-04-11