The Brown & White

The women's lacrosse team will travel to Hamilton, N.Y. to face Navy in the first round of the 2009 Patriot League tournament Friday.

The No. 2 seed Mountain Hawks come into the game with an overall record of 11-5 and a league record of 4-2, while No. 3 Navy comes into the game 12-4 overall and 4-2 in league play.

The last time the two teams met, Lehigh came away with an 11-7 victory in Annapolis, Md. on April 11.

Lehigh clinched a postseason berth after a 15-11 victory over Colgate University in the final game of the regular season last Saturday. Colgate was undefeated in the league at the time.

Sophomore attacker Lauren Dykstra led the way with six goals, increasing her total to 64 scores on the season, the same total she had during her freshman campaign. Senior attacker Sara MacIntyre netted three.

Dykstra said the team was determined to play a great game against Colgate.

"We knew how good they were coming in and we just executed how we had to," Dykstra said. "Our entire team played well and the win really gave us confidence and showed us that we can beat anyone in the league."

MacIntyre said the Hawks were very proud when they had a film review session of the Colgate game.

"We watched clips from the game earlier today and it was awesome," MacIntyre said. "Everyone stepped up and that's what our team is all about."

The Hawks started the year off 2-3 but went 9-2 in their final 11 games, which included a three-game winning streak to end the regular season. They scored 20 or more goals in a game twice this season and averaged over 13 goals per game.

The Patriot League named a school-record and league-high eight Lehigh players to the all-league team.

Dykstra, senior defender Sarah Fudin and junior attacker Inneke Carmola were given first-team honors, while senior defender Tess McGrath, junior goalkeeper Kelsy Ferris, sophomore midfielder Allison Thomas, freshman attacker Kelly Draper and freshman defender Leigh Ann Torcivia were named to the second team.

Dykstra and Draper also received individual Patriot League awards. Dykstra was named the league's Offensive Player of the Year and Draper garnered Rookie of the Year honors.

Dykstra ranked first in the nation in both goals and groundballs with 64 and 78, respectively, and Draper was second on the team and fourth in the league with 36 goals.

With Draper winning the award, Lehigh became the first team in any sport in Patriot League history to have freshmen win Rookie of the Year in four consecutive years. MacIntyre, Carmola and Dykstra were the previous recipients of the honor.

The five seniors on the team- MacIntyre, Fudin, McGrath, attackers Meagan Tenety and Meghan Tranter- were all honored prior to the game against Colgate.

Head Coach Jill Redfern said this is the part of the season when senior leadership really comes out.

"The seniors have absolutely been influential this season," Redfern said. "They all play with emotion and that certainly rubs off on the rest of the team. They have been in this situation before and will help prepare the rest of the team for Friday."

Dykstra said each senior has had an impact on the team's success this season.

"All five of them have known their individual roles on this team," she said. "They have been influential and emotional all season long, and without them, we might not be in this situation."

Last year, the Hawks lost to Colgate 22-12 in the first round of the Patriot League Tournament.

MacIntyre said the team feels more confident heading into this year's playoffs.

"This year we seriously know we can win," MacIntyre said. "We understand that it's extremely tough to beat a team twice, but there is no reason we can't win the tournament."

Redfern, who is in her first year as the squad's head coach, said the Hawks will prepare for the showdown with Navy the same way they did for each game all season long.

"It's all about the next game," she said. "With focus and execution, everyone on the team knows that the game is there for us to take."

The winner of this game will take on the winner of No. 4 Bucknell University and No. 1 Colgate in the championship game on Sunday.

Action is set to begin at 2 p.m. on Friday.