BETHLEHEM, Pa. – The Lehigh women's soccer continued its impressive success against six-time reigning MAAC regular season champion Monmouth on Sunday, playing to a scoreless draw and extending its unbeaten streak against the Hawks to five. Monmouth began the second half with seven straight shots, but Lehigh's defense hung tough. Its offense bounced back to hold a 5-3 shots edge over the two overtime periods, including several glittering opportunities.

"We definitely performed a lot better than Friday," said Lehigh head coach Eric Lambinus. "We worked a little bit harder and were a little bit tougher. Monmouth is a really good team. We knew this was the type game it would be. They're super talented and have a lot of veteran players. It just took us a little bit of time to figure things out and once we found a lineup that did well, we stayed with it for the last bit and played really well at that point."
 
Lehigh is now 1-0-4 over its last five games vs. Monmouth, each coming in the last five years. For perspective, Monmouth is now 0-1-4 against Lehigh since 2015 and 58-16-4 against everyone else.
 
The Mountain Hawks had some impressive chances in the first overtime period, beginning in the 92nd minute with a shot from senior Maggie Wadsworth that went just wide of the far post. Less than two minutes later, freshman Ryelle Shuey fired a dangerous shot, but Monmouth goalkeeper Amana Knaub made the save. Lehigh held a 4-1 shots edge in the first overtime.
 
One of Lehigh's best chances of the game came in the second OT as junior Lisa Kestelboym fired a shot from the top of the box that just went wide. On the other end, junior goalkeeper Miranda Royds made her fourth save of the game in the second overtime to help secure the draw.
 
An even first half saw Monmouth hold an 8-3 edge in shots, but all three Lehigh chances were on goal. The Hawks controlled play early in the second, but Lehigh's defense hung tough. Royds made a save in the period, while senior Annika Jansa cleared a ball off the line in the 61st minute. Jansa later had a dangerous chance offensively off a free kick, but her 85th-minute shot was saved by Knaub.
 
"We came out of halftime and Monmouth pushed the tempo," said Lambinus. "But we held tough, then once we settled down and started to pass the ball better, our back line held them in those spots. Miranda made a couple big saves then once we started to knock it around, we got better and things opened up.
 
"Our defenders did exactly what we needed, but honestly, the defense was all the way up. Our shape was way better defensively in the midfield and our shape was way better with our attacking players pushing and being in the right spots. Our next phase is we have to learn to put some balls in the back of the net."
 
Final shots were 22-10 in favor of Lehigh while Monmouth held a 9-3 edge in corner kicks. Royds had four saves while Knaub finished with five.
 
Lehigh will now hit the road for four straight games, beginning Thursday at Fairleigh Dickinson. Opening kickoff is set for 7 p.m.
 
"We got better from Friday night and that's what we have to do," said Lambinus. "We're just an early version of ourselves. Going into FDU, we have to work on some other things, continue to get better – our style of play, our movement, our shape. Our goal is just to be a little bit better against FDU and then a little bit better against Duquesne. We're building to the Patriot League. Use these games as a gage of what we need to improve and how we can play soccer the right way."

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