BETHLEHEM, Pa. - The Lehigh women's soccer team got off to a quick 2-0 start less than 16 minutes into the game, but Bucknell answered with a vengeance, scoring two second-half goals in a 6:33 span, and adding the overtime game-winner, to down the Mountain Hawks 3-2 on a chilly Friday evening at the Ulrich Sports Complex. Sophomore Katie Centeno and freshman Laura Courtney scored Lehigh's goals while seniors Heather Camperson and Paige Dyrek each came up with team saves.
 
"We played really well in the first half, but didn't continue in the second," said Lehigh head coach Eric Lambinus. "We did exactly the things that we worked on over a period of time. We were aggressive, we won balls and we created chances. Bucknell wanted it more in the second half and overtime and deserved to win the game."
 
Lehigh got off to the fast start, scoring at the 4:39 mark when Centeno corralled a feed from senior Murphee Greeley and fired a lefty shot into the corner of the goal.
 
The Mountain Hawks converted their second shot into their second goal at 15:53 when junior Danielle Salans chipped a ball to Courtney who beat an oncoming Bucknell goalie for a 2-0 lead.
 
Camperson came up with a big play in the 25th minute, making a stop of an Evelyn Nicinski shot that was ticketed for the back of the net. Camperson cleared the ball off the goal line as Lehigh held on to the 2-0 lead heading into halftime.
 
The Bison scored two quick second-half goals as Nicinski headed a centering cross into the back of the net at 56:14 before Sarah Bresette fired a low shot into the corner of the goal. That made it 2-2 at the 62:47 mark.
 
Nahapetian made a sensational save less than three minutes later to keep the score tied. She came out strong on a mini break from Alexis Gannon and deflected the chance out of harm's way, forcing a corner kick.
 
In the 76th minute, Dyrek made a team save on the goal line, keeping the score at 2-2. Dyrek went on to clear a dangerous ball in the 88th minute out of harm's way. Bucknell had a golden opportunity as time winded down, but a hand ball ended the scoring chance.
 
Dyrek had the first shot in overtime for either side, firing a ball from distance that went wide. Bucknell answered with a long goal of its own at 96:15 for the victory as Liz Dwornik connected with Bresette for a second straight time. It marked the second consecutive season that Lehigh and Bucknell have played into overtime at the Ulrich Sports Complex. The Mountain Hawks won last season behind Isabelle Li's golden goal.
 
"We sat back and that's not our style," said Lambinus. "I'll be honest, our upperclassmen have to look in the mirror and figure out ways to turn it around. We had a lot of juniors and seniors on the field who have been through this before. We talk like we know how to deal with [adversity], but it showed today that we don't."
 
Final shots were 22-11 in favor of Bucknell while the Bison held a 4-0 edge in corner kicks. Nahapetian finished with four saves across Jessie Ashworth who made one.
 
Lehigh returns to action on Sunday, traveling to Penn to take on the Quakers. Opening kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. The Mountain Hawks return home on Wednesday to host archrival Lafayette at 7 p.m.
 
"Hopefully we can come out and have a good recovery session tomorrow," said Lambinus. "We're going to be looking for some other players to give us some minutes against Penn. There needs to be a change in our mentality if we're going to win games. We need to change our outlook and our belief."

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