Two win weekly awards; Lehigh set for PLT
Complete Patriot League Release
BETHLEHEM, Pa. - Following strong performances in the regular season finale vs. Holy Cross, Lehigh women's soccer junior Clare Severe has been named Patriot League Offensive Player of the Week while sophomore Sam Miller has garnered Goalkeeper of the Week recognition. Severe scored twice in Saturday's 3-0 win over the Crusaders while Miller made seven saves for her ninth shutout of the season. Severe, Miller and the Mountain Hawks now look ahead to Tuesday's Patriot League Quarterfinal matchup at Colgate.
Severe's two goals marked a career high as she doubled her previous career total of two goals entering the game. The Bethesda, Md. native opened the scoring at the 10:39 mark off a feed from senior Lexi Chang. She went on to score the team's third goal at the 75:31 mark. As a midfielder, Severe also played a role in Lehigh's defensive efforts The Mountain Hawks pitched their ninth shutout of the season (and 21st since the beginning of last season). Lehigh's 21 shutouts over a two-year stretch are currently second in school history (only behind the 22 shutouts from 2004-05). Lehigh entered this past weekend tied for 18th in the nation in shutouts since the beginning of 2016. Severe is now third on the Mountain Hawks with eight points behind two goals and a team-high four assists.
Meanwhile, Miller won her sixth Goalkeeper of the Week award to extend her league record of six in a single season. No other player in Patriot League history has tallied more than four Goalkeeper of the Week awards in a season. On Saturday, Miller recorded two first-half saves and five in the second half. One of her best saves came in the 80th minute on a flurry of Holy Cross opportunities in front of the goal. For the season, Miller owns a 0.56 goals against average and 0.881 save percentage. Earlier on Monday, she was named a second team All-League honoree for a second straight season.
The Mountain Hawks are set begin the Patriot League Tournament on Tuesday as Lehigh will travel to Hamilton, N.Y. for a quarterfinal matchup against Colgate. Opening kickoff is set for 7 p.m. with live coverage on the Patriot League Network. The fifth-seeded Mountain Hawks and fourth-seeded Raiders played a competitive game in the regular season that resulted in a 1-1 tie in Bethlehem. Lehigh (9-4-4, 5-2-2 PL) and Colgate (9-6-2, 5-2-2 PL) were tied for fourth place in the standings, but the tiebreaker went to the Raiders because of their regular-season victory over Bucknell.
Along with Severe's two goals on Saturday, sophomore Annika Jansa added a 35th-minute goal on a free kick, firing a perfect lefty strike into the top left corner of the goal to give Lehigh a 2-0 lead. The goal tied Jansa for the team lead in goals with five while her 12 points lead the Mountain Hawks. Ironically, it marked Jansa's first goal that wasn't a game-winner, as she had game-winning goals at Penn, vs. Villanova, at St. John's and against American.
Lehigh has lost just four games this season, one season after finishing 11-5-2. The nine losses over a two-season stretch are currently tied for the fewest in school history. The Mountain Hawks lost just nine times from 2009-10 and only 10 from 2004-05.
The Raiders began Patriot League play 5-0-1, but are winless in their last three games, with two losses coming against third-seeded Boston U and top-seeded Navy. The Colgate attack is led by Mara Cosentino (16 points) and Abby Sotomayor (14), who finished the season ranked fourth and sixth in the Patriot League in points. Kelly Chiavaro started 14 games in goal this season, tallying 49 saves and three shutouts. She owns a 1.90 GAA and 0.653 save percentage.
Colgate leads the all-time series with an 18-7-3 mark against the Mountain Hawks. In 2004, these two teams played in the Patriot League Tournament and Colgate came away with a 2-0 victory. Lehigh's last win came in 2012, a 1-0 home victory. The Mountain Hawks' last win at Colgate came in 2009, a 4-1 final. Lehigh has lost three straight in Hamilton, most recently dropping a 3-2 overtime final at Colgate last season.
The winner of Tuesday's matchup will face either No. 1 Navy or No. 2 Bucknell on Friday. If No. 6 Lafayette beats No. 3 Boston University, the winner would face Bucknell, but if the Terriers win, the Colgate-Lehigh winner would face Navy.
Like Lehigh Women's Soccer on Facebook, follow on Twitter and Instagram for continued updates on the Mountain Hawks.
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