PHILADELPHIA - The Lehigh women's soccer team responded from a tough loss to Bucknell less than 48 hours earlier by pulling out a 1-1 tie at Penn Sunday. Junior Danielle Salans gave the Mountain Hawks a 1-0 lead, but the Quakers responded in the second half. Lehigh pulled out a positive result against Ivy League power Penn for just the second time in program history.
 
"To go on the road and get a result against a really good team, you can take some positives," said Lehigh head coach Eric Lambinus. "The biggest positive is coming back from one of the most difficult losses in a while [on Friday]. To play the way we did is really encouraging."
 
Salans gave Lehigh a 1-0 lead in the 31st minute, taking a feed from senior Murphee Greeley and redirecting the ball inside the far post. The first half saw Penn own an 11-5 edge in shots, but the Mountain Hawks held a 5-4 shots on goal edge.
 
The Quakers pulled even at the 74:18 as Tahirih Nesmith scored off a corner kick.
 
"Penn is a difficult team to play against because they have pretty good size, a long throw and they hit a lot of free kicks into the box," said Lambinus. "A lot of their good chances were free kicks and corner kick."
 
Lehigh continued to have chances, including off a corner kick in the game's final minute. The Mountain Hawks played the ball short, leading into freshman Laura Courtney putting the ball in the back of the net. However, the play was whistled off sides, sending the game to overtime.
 
Neither team could score in the extra session as Lehigh posted its second tie of the season.
 
Final shots were 27-7 in favor of Penn while the Quakers held a 10-1 edge in corner kicks. Junior Ashley Blanks was stellar in goal, making nine saves, across Katherine Myhre who made five.
 
"I thought Ashley had a tremendous game," said Lambinus. "We were really dangerous when we had the ball. We held the ball well and were dangerous on the counterattack. We're disappointed that we gave up the lead again, but we showed character the way we started and the way we finished."
 
The Mountain Hawks return to action on Wednesday when they host arch rival Lafayette in a key Patriot League matchup. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. and will air on the Patriot League Network.
 
"It was good to get this game under our belt after what took place on Friday," said Lambinus. "It gave us a fresh start and allows us to get after that game. They've beaten us two years in a row. It's Lafayette; both teams will give everything they've got.
 
"I've talked to the team about using the [Lehigh] football team as an example about believing. Hopefully we can start winning these closes games," he continued.

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