Greeley goal lifts Lehigh past Navy for third straight win
October 9, 2011
BETHELHEM, Pa. – Sophomore Murphee Greeley scored her team-leading fourth goal of the season and the Lehigh defense pitched its third straight shutout as the Mountain Hawks picked up a crucial three points with a 1-0 win over Navy on a warm, sunny afternoon at the Ulrich Sports Complex. The win is the third in a row for the Mountain Hawks who improve to 6-5-1 overall and 2-1 in league contests.
Greeley delivered the only goal of the match in the 18th minute when she took a pass from senior Leah Kulp, controlled it off her body and ripped a volley underneath the crossbar and past Navy keeper Alexes Shaw-Lopez.
“It’s a great finish,” said Lehigh head coach Eric Lambinus. “Murphee was composed and hit a perfect ball. She’s been pushing herself trying to get a goal. In three games this week we’ve had three wins and three different game winning goals. Hopefully that’s something we can continue.”
From there, Lehigh turned to its defense to preserve its third straight clean sheet. Navy out-shot Lehigh 9-4 in the second half and 15-11 for the game, but the Mountain Hawks stood their ground. The Mids created several quality chances, especially off of free kicks, but freshman Ashley Blanks answered with seven saves for her fourth shutout of the season.
“We matched them in every minute,” Lambinus said. “They are unbelievable on free kicks, their size is unreal and we just battled and I’m really proud of that.
He continued, “I think we were awesome the last 15 minutes of the game. That’s when we played our best. Our fitness was great. They were pushing but we held them off and I thought we had some of the better chances at the end but couldn’t find that insurance goal.”
Greeley had three of Lehigh’s 11 shots, while junior Izzy Li and freshman Jordan Goodwin had two shots apiece. Lehigh had four corner kicks to Navy’s one, and the Mountain Hawks were whistled for 13 fouls, compared to eight for the Mids.
Lopez Shaw finished with three saves for Navy. Five Midshipmen had two shots apiece, with Ashlynn Soellner registering a pair of shots on target.
“I love how we’ve recovered from a couple of losses,” Lambinus said. “We lose one of the biggest games of the year but come back with our best effort. We are excited because we know what this team can do and hopefully we can build on this confidence.”
The Mountain Hawks will return to the pitch on Wednesday night when they host the Princeton Tigers. Game time is set for 7 p.m. from the Ulrich Sports Complex with live streaming video available on Lehighsports.com.
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