BETHLEHEM, Pa. - The Lehigh women's soccer team scored two goals in the span of 5:06 early in the second half, which proved to be the difference as the Mountain Hawks downed Loyola 2-1 on Saturday evening. Sophomore Adrian Vitello began the scoring by converting a rebound before freshman Sabrina Mertz added her seventh goal of the season, which proved to be the difference. Senior goalkeeper Ani Nahapetian finished with five saves, including a sensational stop in the 86th minute which helped seal the victory.
 
With the win, Lehigh improves to 6-4-3 for the season, including 1-2-2 in Patriot League play. Loyola falls to 4-7-1 and 2-2-1 in the league.
 
"We needed three points. No matter how you're going to get it, we'll take it," said Lehigh head coach Eric Lambinus. "I thought we had really good sections in there. I'm not sure we finished the game that well, so we can improve upon that, but I'm really impressed with the way we played. We started out the second half as well as we could, considering we haven't been good in second halves the last three games. It was a huge improvement and I was really happy with our effort."
 
The first half began slowly with only three shots in the game's first 19 minute. All were by Loyola and all off target. Vitello tallied Lehigh's first shot in the 20th, but her header went wide.
 
The Mountain Hawks began to gain momentum in the middle of the first half. Less than two minutes after Vitello's chance, Mertz fired a shot from just outside the box, but it was off the mark.
 
Lehigh's first shot on goal came in the 36th minute as sophomore Lexi Chang's shot was blocked, but trickled towards goal where Loyola keeper Colleen Folan made the stop. Loyola snapped a streak of eight straight Lehigh shots with two chances in the final minute of the first half, but the game went into halftime scoreless.
 
The Mountain Hawks broke the ice just over one minute into the second half behind a free kick. Junior Laura Courtney played a great ball into the box and Mertz got a piece, forcing Folan to make a save. Vitello was there and fired the rebound high, past Folan, to make it 1-0 at the 46:21 mark.
 
Lehigh made it 2-0 just over five minutes later as Vitello was fouled just outside the box. From directly in front of the goal, Mertz took the free kick and unleashed a low shot which Folan couldn't handle, making it 2-0 in the 52nd minute.
 
Loyola had an answer just 4:30 later as Alyssa Bonnesen made a nifty pass to her left to Charlotte Miller in the corner of the box. Miller's shot found the top left corner of the goal to pull the Greyhounds within 2-1 at the 55:57 mark.
 
The Greyhounds continued to charge, but the Lehigh defense stood tall. One chance came in the 70th minute when Bonnesen found herself in a dangerous spot in front of the goal, but she couldn't get the shot through amidst several Lehigh defenders.
 
The Mountain Hawks were looking for insurance in the 77th minute when senior Paige Elliott led a rush, making a centering pass to Chang, but her ensuing header was stopped by Folan. Loyola answered over the game's final minutes, including a golden opportunity in the 86th minute. A Jess Soldiviero shot looked ticketed for just under the crossbar, but Nahapetian leaped and punched the ball out of harm's way, forcing a corner kick.
 
"That was a save a senior keeper needs to make," said Lambinus. "We ask our keepers to do everything they're supposed to, then come up with one huge save to help us. That was such a huge save at such a timely moment. It gave us energy and we were able to finish it off from there."
 
Nahapetian made another save as the clock hit zero to help Lehigh wrap up a big Patriot League victory.
 
Final shots were 14-12 in favor of Lehigh while the Greyhounds held a 3-2 edge in corner kicks. Nahapetian's five saves came across Folan who made three.
 
Lehigh will return to action next Wednesday at Princeton before returning to Patriot League play next Saturday at Boston University.
 
"We have two really tough games coming up," said Lambinus. "Princeton is phenomenal. I think they're a team who will compete for the Ivy League. It's a great opportunity to test ourselves. BU is another great team. We need to be up for the challenge. I think we're starting to play better over a period of time, so I'm hoping we continue that good play and see what we've got against two really good teams. First Princeton, then we'll see after that."

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