Steele Named Patriot League Defensive Player of the Week

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BETHLEHEM, Pennsylvania – Lehigh field hockey student Erica Steele was named Patriot League Defensive Player of the Week on Monday after a strong all-round performance in Sunday’s 3-1 win over Bryant. Steele was part of a defense that allowed only five shots throughout the game (only three on target), while offensively she started the shot on goal with her first goal of her career from a penalty corner.

The award is the Mountain Hawks’ second award in as many weeks after Lenke Hava’s Offensive Player of the Week last Monday.

The goal fell with 2:40 in the second quarter to equalize the score to one. Steele and the Lehigh Defense, on the other hand, allowed only one shot in the first 32+ minutes of play and only one shot on goal in the first 57+ minutes of play.

Junior Sarah Bonthuis also received an Honorable Mention on the League’s weekly list of honors after assisting with Steele’s goal and then scoring the game-winning goal on Sunday.

Attacking as a team, the Mountain Hawks now have nine goals in three games (three in each competition). It’s the longest-run three games since 1975 (the third season of the program). It is the first time since this year that Lehigh started the season with 3+ goals in each of his first three games. It’s also the first time since 2016 that the Mountain Hawks have scored more than 3 goals in three straight games.

After two home games in a row, Lehigh hits the road in La Salle on Friday. Philadelphia game time is set at 3:00 p.m.

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