BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Behind a 55th minute goal from sophomore Annika Jansa and a stellar all-around effort, the Lehigh women’s soccer team defeated Villanova 2-1 on Friday evening at the Ulrich Sports Complex. The win marks the Mountain Hawks’ (3-2-1) eighth straight against Philadelphia-area schools, dating back to the 2015 season. Sophomore goalkeeper Sam Miller made three saves for her 15th-career shutout.

 

“A lot of things are starting to come together,” said Lehigh head coach Eric Lambinus. “Villanova is a good team. They’ve gotten some good results recently. It’s good to get a win on our home field finally and score. I thought we played really well and created a bunch of chances. As the game went along, we got better.”

 

The Mountain Hawks’ best chance in the first half came off the foot of junior Sabrina Mertz in the 28th minute. Senior Grace Correll found Mertz near the top of the box, but her ensuing shot sailed just high.

 

Lehigh brought strong pressure early in the second half and it led to the game’s only goal. In the 54th minute, junior Clare Severe found sophomore Maggie Wadsworth, who was tripped in the corner of the box, leading to a penalty-kick goal from Jansa to give the Mountain Hawks a 1-0 advantage.

 

“Maggie played really well in the second half,” said Lambinus. “We asked her to start becoming more engaged, take over parts of the game, and she did. Even though we’ve been struggling, I did feel like we were going to score in the second half. We were playing well and creating chances.”

 

After the goal, Lehigh fired three more shots in the next three minute minutes, including a shot on goal from Wadsworth in the 58th minute, but Villanova goalkeeper Emily Harris made her first save of the evening. Harris also made a save on a dangerous opportunity from senior Adrian Vitello in the 64th minute, and stopped a chance from Severe in the 84th minute, who found herself all alone near the top corner of the box.

 

Villanova pressured down the stretch, but the Mountain Hawks’ defense stood tall. With less than five minutes remaining, senior Alyssa Riporti made a big defensive play near the end line to clear a ball out of harm’s way.

 

“We did hold on a little bit at the end, but I don’t think Sam was really tested that much late,” said Lambinus. “I thought it was a pretty complete game. Our backs played well, our midfielders played well and our forwards did a really good job in the second half. I was really happy with the effort.”

 

Final shots were 14-9 in favor of Lehigh while the Wildcats held a 7-4 edge in corner kicks. Miller finished with three saves for Lehigh across Harris, who tallied four.

 

“The team is playing well, but we have probably one of our biggest tests to date with St. John’s in two days, so we’re going to see how it goes,” said Lambinus. “They’re battle tested. They’ve played in NCAA Tournaments and played against great teams. Sunday will be a good test for us to see where we stand in the region. I’m looking forward to it.”

 

Sunday’s matchup at St. John’s is set for 7 p.m. and can be seen live on ESPN3.

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