BETHLEHEM, Pa. - The Lehigh women’s soccer team will play its final nonleague game of the season Wednesday when the Mountain Hawks take on Princeton at 7 p.m. Lehigh will travel to Princeton for its fifth consecutive road match; the squad rounds out the week at Army before returning home for its final three games of the regular season.

 

Lehigh is coming off a pair of slim 1-0 losses over the weekend to Patriot League opponents. On Friday, the Mountain Hawks fell to American and on Sunday they dropped an overtime decision to first-place Navy, who’s riding the nation’s longest winning streak (15 games).

In the match against American, the Eagles scored the game’s only goal in the 50th minute. Despite firing seven second-half shots and forcing goalie Charlene Belanger to make four saves, Lehigh couldn’t find the back of the net to tie the score.

 

The Mountain Hawks played two days later at Navy, who was coming off a 3-2 win over Lafayette. Lehigh hang tough with the Midshipmen and kept the game scoreless until the 99th minute when Navy scored off a corner kick to win the match.

 

Junior goalie Ali Griffin played all 189 minutes over the weekend and made seven saves. Juniors Paige Dyrek and Murphee Greeley paced Lehigh offensively as Dyrek posted five shots in the two games and Greeley attempted four, two going on goal. Freshman defender Paige Elliott was strong all week at both ends of the field to earn honorable mention recognition on the Patriot League’s weekly honor roll.

 

Greeley leads the team with three goals and six points while Dyrek and sophomore Darby Wiegand each have two goals and four points. Senior Isabelle Li and junior Danielle Salans lead the team in assists with two apiece. Defensively, Griffin has played the last three games in goal for Lehigh and allowed one goal in each match. Sophomore keeper Ashley Blanks has logged 497:53 minutes and owns a 2.17 goals against average while freshman Ani Nahapetian has played 323:44 and holds a 2.50 GAA.

 

Ranked sixth in the most recent NSCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional Rankings, Princeton is 7-3-1 after winning each of its last five matches. The Tigers are 3-0 in Ivy League play and 4-1-1 at home. Offensively, Jen Hoy leads the team with 11 goals and an assist for 23 points. Goalkeeper Claire Pinciaro has started eight of her team’s matches and owns a 1.32 GAA and .791 save percentage during her 612:35 in net.

 

The Mountain Hawks play three of the top six teams in this week’s Mid-Atlantic rankings: La Salle (2), Navy (4) and Princeton (6). Lehigh also defeated Marist, 3-0, when the Red Foxes were regionally ranked while facing regionally-ranked Stony Brook as well.

 

Lehigh has never beaten Princeton in the 15 matches between the two sides and holds an 0-14-1 all-time record against the Tigers. A season ago, the Mountain Hawks fell 1-0 at home to the Tigers.

 

Following the Princeton match, Lehigh heads to Army on Sunday for a crucial Patriot League matchup which kicks off at 1 p.m. The Mountain Hawks then have three consecutive league home games to conclude their season, beginning next Friday (Oct. 19) vs. Bucknell at 7 p.m.

 

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