Box Score 

BETHLEHEM, Pa. - Behind a 74th minute goal from sophomore Sabrina Mertz, the Lehigh women's soccer team earned a 1-0 win over American on Senior Night Friday evening. With the victory, the Mountain Hawks close out the regular season 11-4-2 and 5-3-1 in Patriot League play, earning a home game in the Patriot League Quarterfinals on Tuesday.
 
"I thought we played with a little bit more urgency in the second half," said Lehigh head coach Eric Lambinus. "In the first half, we were sitting back a little bit and trying to let the game come to us, which is not the way we play. We want to put a little more pressure on them, and we did that in the second half. We created turnovers and had some good opportunities. We're happy with getting the goal and getting the win."
 
Lehigh will enter the tournament as either the No. 3 or 4 seed, depending on Saturday's other Patriot League results. Regardless of seed, the Mountain Hawks will host a Patriot League Quarterfinal Game this coming Tuesday at 7 p.m. It will mark Lehigh's first home game in the Patriot League Tournament since the 2005 season.
 
The Mountain Hawks controlled play early on, including a strong chance in the 14th minute as a shot from junior Grace Correll hit the crossbar. Lehigh continued to pressure, nearly taking a 1-0 lead in the 35th minute as junior Lexi Chang fired a shot off a corner kick, but an American defender cleared the ball off the line.
 
Lehigh entered halftime with a 6-1 edge in shots, but upped the pressure in the second half. In the 52nd minute, senior Tori Pantaleo fired a rocket shot looking to pick the top-left corner of the goal, but it sailed just wide.
 
It was Pantaleo who fed Mertz at the 73:40 mark for the game's first, and only, goal as following a sequence of passes, Mertz's lefty shot hit the crossbar and bounced in. The Mountain Hawks' defense allowed just one shot the rest of the way, holding onto their 12th shutout of the season.

Final shots were 16-3 in favor of Lehigh. The three shots allowed tied a season low. The Mountain Hawks also held a 7-0 edge in corner kicks. Freshman Sam Miller made one save for Lehigh across Morgan Lang, who tallied five.
 
Prior to Friday's game, Lehigh's four seniors, Pantaleo, Laura Courtney, Kalin Ojert and Madeline Walsh, were recognized prior to their final regular season games.
 
The Mountain Hawks will return home on Tuesday for the Patriot League Quarterfinals. Check back to Lehighsports.com for continued updates leading into the postseason.
 
"Our hope every season is to put ourselves in a position to compete for a championship," said Lambinus. "We've done that. Our goal is to put out our best performance on Tuesday, to play our best game. If we can give a good 90 minutes, it will give us a great opportunity to win."
 
Like Lehigh Women's Soccer on Facebook, follow on Twitter and Instagram for continued updates on the Mountain Hawks.

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