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BETHLEHEM, Pa. - Coming off a big 1-0 win at archrival Lafayette on Wednesday evening, the Lehigh women's soccer team looks to officially clinch a Patriot League Tournament berth when the Mountain Hawks head to first-place Bucknell on Saturday. Lehigh is currently in fourth place in the league standings with 10 points, just three points behind second-place Navy and one point ahead of fifth-place Colgate.
 
The Mountain Hawks are three points ahead of Lafayette, who stands in seventh place. Lehigh would clinch its first league tournament berth since 2012 with a win. Even with a loss, the Mountain Hawks could still clinch as early as Saturday, with some help from out-of-town scores.
 
Senior Tori Pantaleo scored in the ninth minute against the Leopards Wednesday, which proved to be all the Mountain Hawks would need. Lehigh went on to pitch its 11th shutout of the season (in 15 games), the team's most shutouts since recording 13 in 2005.The team's shutout percentage of 73.3 percent is currently tied for third in the nation. Lafayette came out of halftime with a vengeance, recording the first five shots in the second, but freshman goalkeeper Sam Miller stopped three of them while two were off the mark. Freshman Maggie Wadsworth had two glittering scoring opportunities looking for insurance late in the game. One hit the crossbar while the second hit the post, but it didn't matter as Lehigh wrapped up its third 1-0 Patriot League win of the year.
 
Bucknell stands 13-0-1 on the season as its .962 winning percentage stands second in the nation. The Bison are also 7-0 in the league. Most recently, Bucknell defeated Loyola, 3-0 and American, 5-1. Prior to those games, the Bison earned consecutive 2-1 overtime wins at Colgate and Navy. Kendall Ham leads the nation's top offense, which averages 3.07 goals per game. Ham owns 29 points behind 13 goals and three assists while Maddi Mulford has recorded 23 points (eight goals, seven assists).  Alexis Gannon owns 10 points (three goals four assists) while three others have tallied nine points. Jessica Ratner has seen the majority of time in goal, recording a 0.44 goals against average and .887 save percentage.
 
The Bison lead the all-time series, 14-10-3, beating the Mountain Hawks last season, 3-0. In the last game at Bucknell, the teams played to a hard-fought scoreless draw. Lehigh's last win against the Bison came in 2012.
 
Following Saturday's game, Lehigh returns home for the regular season finale against American, next Friday, Oct. 28 at 7 p.m. It will also be Senior Night as Laura Courtney, Pantaleo, Kalin Ojert and Madeline Walsh will be recognized prior to opening kickoff.
 
Like Lehigh Women's Soccer on Facebook, follow on Twitter and Instagram for continued updates on the Mountain Hawks.

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