Lady laxers rout Lehigh; Dartmouth next


Monday, April 6, 1998	Lady laxers rout Lehigh; Dartmouth next By DON STEWART Collegian Sports Writer Patience was a virtue for the Penn State women's lacrosse team Saturday. The No. 11 Lady Lions utilized a better offensive passing scheme around their opponent's net in routing Lehigh 18-6 in Bethlehem. Penn State (5-4) will end its two-game road trip when it takes on Dartmouth at noon today in Hanover, N.H.
`Penn State Women's Lacrosse Home Page`	"We took our time and we were more deliberate in where we placed the ball," Lion coach Julie Williams said, "and we opened up a lot more scoring opportunities because of it." Williams criticized her team last week for scoring almost exclusively on fast breaks rather than trying to set things up. Williams' players remained patient Saturday, however, and scored a season-high 18 goals against the Mountain Hawks (2-2).
Penn State's Emily Mechem winds up for a shot amidst a sea of Dartmouth defenders in a contest against the Green Wave last season at Jeffrey Field. Penn State knocked off Lehigh 18-6 Saturday, and travels to take on Dartmouth at noon today. (Collegian Photo/Shawn Knapp - click for full size image)	In addition, nine players scored goals for Penn State -- another season-high. Junior midfielder Emily Mechem paced the Lions with four goals and three assists. Sophomore attacker Julie Tice tallied three goals and two assists, and senior attacker Cheryl Videon also picked up three goals with one assist. "We waited," said junior attacker Jen Johnson, who had one goal and two assists. "Patience was the key. We waited for things to happen." Penn State's defensive unit also came up big against Lehigh. The Mountain Hawks were held to just 14 shots as the Lions had their best defensive performance of the season -- surrendering just six goals. "It was a very good game for us defensively," Williams said. "We did a good job double teaming the ball and our transition game was good, too." Williams pointed out some breakdowns in her team's midfield. Senior midfielder Sarah Long said there were times when she and her fellow midfielders didn't do a good job staying with their assignments. "We're still not 100 percent as far as that goes," Long said. "The times we didn't get back defensively were because we weren't matched up."
*"It was a very good game for us defensively. We did a good job double teaming the ball and our transition game was good, too."* - Julie Williams, Penn State women's lacrosse coach	Williams linked the breakdowns in the midfield to communication problems. Despite occasional problems in the midfield, Williams said her team's communication was still better but still not where she wanted it. Williams said defensive communication in the arch will be vital today against Dartmouth. The No. 12 Big Green (3-1) feature an experienced attack. Led by Jennifer Greene and Jacque Weitzel, Dartmouth averages 14 goals per game and is coming off a 20-11 blowout of Brown on Saturday. Williams said she has shuffled players around in an effort to match up better with Greene and Weitzel. Junior midfielder Summer Downing will be assigned to Greene, and junior midfielder Colleen O'Brien will be assigned to Weitzel. "It's probably impossible to mark them completely out of the game, but we're hoping to cut down on their scoring and force other people to step up," Williams said. Overall, Johnson said her team is playing better every game due to increased intensity on the field. In the skill aspect, however, the Lions are struggling. "We're playing really well with our hearts," Johnson said, "but we're still making dumb mistakes." The Lions will have to eliminate those mistakes today, or Greene, Weitzel and the Big Green attack could eliminate them.