Lehigh plays Colgate to scoreless draw
HAMILTON, N.Y. – The Lehigh women's soccer team outshot Colgate 13-11, including a 5-1 edge in shots on goal, but both defenses stood tall in a scoreless draw on Wednesday evening. The Mountain Hawks allowed just one shot on goal for their eighth shutout of the season and third in the last four games. With the tie and one point in the standings, Lehigh remains in a tie for fourth place with two games remaining. At 3-3-1 in league play, the Mountain Hawks are currently tied with Bucknell and Holy Cross, all owning 10 points, but Lehigh would own the tiebreaker if the season ended today due to wins over both the Bison and Crusaders.
"I thought the game was pretty solid in the first half," said Lehigh head coach Eric Lambinus. "Neither team broke each other down. We had a couple chances, but it was a really good, solid game and we played ourselves into it. We were a little bit more conservative in the way we played in the attack, but we still created 13 chances, a bunch on goal and a bunch of corner kicks."
In the end, Lehigh earned a point at Colgate for the first time since 2009 and just the fifth time in 17 all-time meetings in Hamilton, N.Y. (three wins and two ties).
"We played with really good energy and by the end of the second half and overtime, I thought we were pushing the tempo," said Lambinus. "That says a lot about our team, our energy, our work rate and our fitness."
The first half saw just 10 combined shots and only three on goal – two by Lehigh and one by Colgate. Lehigh's came from senior Kayla Arestivo in the 19th minute and freshman Chloe Sherman in the 32nd minute. Leah Lewis had the Raiders' first and only shot on goal at the 18:49 mark as the Mountain Hawks wouldn't allow a shot on target for the game's final 91:11.
"Our back line was solid, Miranda Royds was really solid and Lisa Kestelboym and Abby Furtmann sitting in front of them did a really good job," said Lambinus. "I thought they did a good job of stopping Colgate's attack, which helped us release going the other way."
The second half saw eight combined shots, with the only one on goal coming from sophomore Lisa Kestelboym in the 82nd minute. The Mountain Hawks appeared to gain momentum, and opportunities, as the second half progressed.
Lehigh kept attacking in overtime, holding a 5-1 edge in shots over the two periods. In the 104th minute, freshman Ryelle Shuey fired a shot on goal. Then, in the 108th minute, a Rebecca Van Siclen shot from inside the box forced Colgate goalkeeper Kelly Chiavaro to make her fifth, and perhaps best, stop of the night.
Along with the 13-11 edge in corner kicks, the Mountain Hawks had five corners kicks to the Raiders' two. Junior Miranda Royds made one save for her eighth shutout of the season.
"Our mindset going into every game is we're not here to get a point," said Lambinus. "We're not here to see how well we can play. The mindset is, we have to win games. We have to put ourselves in position to get three points."
The Mountain Hawks return to action on Saturday when they travel to West Point to face Army. Lehigh remains two points behind the Black Knights for second in the league standings, yet are only one point ahead of Lafayette in seventh.
"Army is a really tough opponent," Lambinus continued. "They're really solid defensively and they're going to work their butts off. We have to get ourselves right, get ourselves fit, recover and be ready to go up to Army on Saturday night and get a result."
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