BETHLEHEM, Pa. - The Lehigh women's soccer team battled Villanova to a 1-1 tie Sunday afternoon at the Ulrich Sports Complex. After each team scored a goal within the first 20 minutes, neither was able to find a game-winner. Senior Darby Weigand scored Lehigh's goal in the 14th minute, her third goal in as many games this season. The Mountain Hawks are now 2-0-1 while Villanova sits at 1-3-1.
 
"We had a great week of training and have done a lot of good things," said Lehigh head coach Eric Lambinus. "We've continued to get better prepping, but honestly, we walk off the field very disappointed we didn't get a result. Villanova is a great team. They put us under pressure that we haven't seen and did a great job of keeping them in front of us. I thought we attacked and had a lot of good opportunities."
 
A shot from Villanova's Katie Martin opened up the contest just over a minute into the game. The Mountain Hawks got off a pair of corner kicks and two shots before scoring the first goal of the game in the 14th minute when Wiegand connected on a pass from senior Danielle Salans and sent a ball into the left corner of the net to give the Mountain Hawks a 1-0 lead.
 
About six minutes later, the Wildcats answered with a goal of their own. Martin connected on a pass from Renee Hart and put a ball into the upper right hand corner of the net past the reach of Lehigh senior keeper Ashley Blanks to tie the score at one.
 
The Mountain Hawks had their best chance to take the lead at the end of the first half when junior Katie Centeno headed a ball into the net, but was then called offside as the game went into halftime still tied at one.
 
The Wildcats threatened early in the second half with a pair of shots from Martin within the first two minutes, but one was blocked while the other soared wide. Victoria Gersh got off a shot on goal in the 53rd minute, but Blanks was there to make her second save of the day. Villanova keeper Emma Meyer made three saves of her own between the 61st and 69th minutes to keep the score knotted at one. A flurry of shots continued, with Lehigh holding a 7-6 second-half advantage, but both goalies  stepped up to send the game into overtime.
 
The first period of overtime opened with a Villanova corner kick before the Wildcats' Caitlin Forte had a breakaway chance, but sent the ball wide.  In the 94th minute, freshman Adrian Vitello had a breakaway opportunity of her own, but her shot skirted just a few inches outside of the post. Freshman Grace Correll fired a shot on goal in the 99th minute, but Meyer was there once again and the contest headed into double overtime.
 
Villanova's Christina Camassa opened the second overtime with a shot that flew high before Blanks thwarted an opportunity from Martin. Each team tallied a shot between the 105th and 107th minutes, but neither was able to take advantage as the game ended in a 1-1 draw.
 
Lehigh held an 18-15 shot advantage while the Wildcats claimed an 8-5 corner kick edge. Blanks finished the game with five saves, while Meyer made six. Villanova's first-half keeper Emily Harris tallied one stop. Vitello led Lehigh with five shots, three of which were on goal.
 
"It's four years in the making, but I think we have a really good team and we need to have contributions from all four of our classes," said Lambinus. "I think it's great the classes are meshing so well. It has a lot to do with how our upperclassmen are leading. We need that contribution and our expectation is that we're going to get better. The younger players will continue to get better, but I think our upperclassmen will too."
 
Next up for the Mountain Hawks is a Friday trip to Saint Joseph's for a 7 p.m. kickoff before heading to Central Connecticut State next Sunday at 1 p.m.
 
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