CAA Field Hockey Champion Delaware defeated Lehigh 4-0 in the Opening Round of the NCAA Tournament Wednesday afternoon at Karen Shelton Stadium in Chapel Hill on the campus of the University of North Carolina.
Delaware improves to 10-11 this season and advances to face top-seeded North Carolina in the First Round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday, November 11 at 12 p.m. Lehigh concludes the fall 13-8 after the setback.
Coming off arguably Delaware’s best weekend of field hockey this season, the Blue Hens stayed hot by scoring a pair of goals in the first and third quarters to lift Delaware to an opening-round victory.
Julia Duffhuis opened the scoring in the 12th minute off a penalty corner, giving Duffhuis her fifth goal in the past three contests. Two minutes later, Kiki Oudshoorn found Sian Emslie as Emslie gave Delaware a 2-0 lead that the Blue Hens would take into halftime.
Out of the break, Lia Becker found the back of the cage off an assist from Berber Bakermans to give Delaware a 3-0 advantage in the 32nd minute. It marks the second straight game with a goal for Becker. Genevieve Johnson sent the Blue Hens into the fourth quarter with a 4-0 lead, tallying her third goal of the season 35 seconds before the third-quarter buzzer.
Lizzie Gaebel recorded five saves and posted her second shutout for the Blue Hens in the cage this season. Six players tallied two points for Delaware, including four different goal-scorers in the contests. Bakermans, who has eight assists in the past two matches, and Oudshoorn recorded multi-assist performances for the Blue Hens.
Delaware gained a 16-10 advantage in shots, including 14-1 in the first and third quarters. The Blue Hens also tallied 10 shots on goal compared to six for the Mountain Hawks and edged Lehigh 3-2 on penalty corners.
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