Box Score

BETHLEHEM, Pa. - The Lehigh women's soccer team outshot Colgate 8-2 in the second half and came ever-so close to finding the back of the net, but the Raiders' defense withstood the pressure as the two teams played to a scoreless tie on Saturday evening. Each goalkeeper finished with three saves while senior Madi Morgan led the Mountain Hawks with four shots, including two on goal. Lehigh moves to 4-2-3 on the season and 0-0-2 in Patriot League play while Colgate is now 3-5-1 and 1-0-1 in the league.
 
"A lot of people talk about soccer and 0-0 not being exciting, but that was a pretty exciting Patriot League game between two good teams," said Lehigh head coach Eric Lambinus. "It was a lot of action. I know we didn't put enough balls on frame, but I definitely thought it was an exciting game. Both teams played hard; it was probably a fair result."
 
Colgate controlled play early on, especially the beginning stages of the first half. Ani Nahapetian made her best save of the evening just 4:42 into the game as Emily Crichlow was sprung in alone on the senior goalkeeper, but Nahapetian came out aggressively to make the stop.
 
In total, the Raiders tallied the game's first six shots before freshman Sabrina Mertz fired a shot in the 33rd minute. Freshman Amanda Marques had another shot in the 38th minute, which was stopped by the Raiders' Erin Cummings. Nahapetian made her third save of the half in the final minute of the first half to keep the game scoreless following 45 minutes of play.
 
After getting outshot 7-2 in the first half, Lehigh turned on the pressure in the second half, finishing with an 8-2 shots edge. In the 66th minute, Morgan fired a shot which was blocked, then within seconds, Vitello unleashed a shot which went wide.
 
The Mountain Hawks made an aggressive push towards the end of regulation, with four shots over the final 3:34 of the second half. One chance came from sophomore Grace Correll in close off a nifty feed from senior Emily Korber. In the 89th minute, Morgan fired a shot which was saved, then Correll flew in to put home the rebound, but she was called for offsides so the goal was disallowed.
 
Each side was aggressive in overtime, but couldn't find the back of the net. One of Lehigh's best chances came in the 108th minute when Mertz created a corner kick. The ensuing corner led to a shot from sophomore Alyssa Riporti which sailed high. That proved to be the game's final chance either side as Lehigh's second straight game ended in a scoreless deadlock.
 
"Our whole team, all 11 players on the field, defend," said Lambinus. "They all commit to defending, from our forwards back to our midfield and our backs. Our backs were unbelievably solid. Our midfield did a lot of great work. I think Adrian Vitello touched every piece of grass on this field and was unbelievable. A bunch of players were really good defensively. I think we're going to get better offensively. I have a different sense about the team this year. I know we're going to score some goals. It's going to come."
 
Final shots were even at 12 while the Raiders held a 7-4 edge in corner kicks. Nahapetian and Cummings each finished with three saves.
 
"When we get into the offensive third of the field, we need to have more of a scorer's mentality," said Lambinus. "Our first thought has to be putting the ball on frame. Right now, we might be a little bit too unselfish. We have to go into the attacking third with the thought process that I'm going to put the ball in the back of the net. If we just change that mentality a little bit, which we had at the beginning of the year, we can continue to improve. The Patriot League is a lot different than nonleague games. They're not going to make it easy on us."
 
Lehigh will now hit the road on Wednesday to face Navy. Opening kickoff is set for 7 p.m.

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