Leighton is a talented defender. She has great anticipation while tracking the ball and creating caused turnovers by gaining interceptions or knockdowns. Her excellent field awareness on team defense of knowing when to send early to slide or help in a double team. Leighton is effective as the backer in her team’s defensive set, being agile and communicating well. She has solid 1v1 defense in establishing her approach outside of the 8-meter and maintaining contact with her opponent until driven out. Her hustle in clearing the ball and staying composed while under pressure to ensure her team maintains possession until in their offensive end is superb. She does a good job of fielding cutters inside the 8-meter and picking up ground balls out of pressure. Leighton will continue to work on fine tuning her defensive footwork and improving her stick skills of her non-dominant hand to be an equal threat.