Lehigh beats Marist 3-0
BETHLEHEM, Pa. - Junior Adrian Vitello gave the Mountain Hawks a quick 1-0 lead in the sixth minute, then senior Tori Pantaleo added insurance with two late goals, as the Lehigh women's soccer team remained undefeated on the season with a 3-0 win over Marist on Wednesday evening at the Ulrich Sports Complex. The Mountain Hawks are now 2-0-1 on the season, having shut out each of their opponents while extending their shutout streak to 363:57 dating back to last season.
"It was a good game for us," said Lehigh head coach Eric Lambinus. "It's a midweek game and our first one during classes against a really tough opponent. Marist is a tough team; they've given us fits in the past and they beat us last year. I thought we played a strong first half, controlled the tempo and had a lot of chances. Marist fought us in the second half, they played well and really put us under pressure."
Vitello gave Lehigh an early 1-0 lead, firing a shot from near the top of the box into the corner of the goal at the 5:27 mark.
The Mountain Hawks continued to generate chances, sparked by Vitello, who was in the middle of many opportunities. Marist goalkeeper Makala Foley made a tremendous save on Vitello's 17th-minute shot, forcing a corner kick while keeping Lehigh's lead at 1-0.
Lehigh ended the first half with an 11-4 edge in shots as Foley made five saves to keep the margin at one.
Marist began to pressure in the second half as the Red Foxes finished the stanza with a 6-4 edge in shots. The Mountain Hawk defense stood tall and freshman goalkeeper Sam Miller made three saves to keep Marist off the scoreboard. Meanwhile, Pantaleo caught fire late in the game. In the 72nd minute, the senior was sprung in on the left side and made a move around a hard-charging Marist netminder. Pantaleo finished into the open goal to give Lehigh a 2-0 advantage.
Pantaleo added her second of the game less than 10 minutes later, finishing a cross from junior Becca Sherry to give Lehigh a 3-0 lead, which proved to be the final.
"I thought we controlled the tempo, I thought we passed the ball really well and created good chances," said Lambinus. "Adrian's goal was a great finish, a good touch to put the ball in the back of the net. I would have liked us to get another one in the first half, but we got three (for the game), so I really can't complain."
Lehigh finished with a 15-10 edge in shots and 7-6 advantage in corner kicks. Miller made four saves and she's now stopped all 16 shots sent her way over her first three collegiate games. Foley tallied six saves for Marist.
After two straight home games, the Mountain Hawks now hit the road to face Mount St. Mary's on Saturday at 1 p.m.
"It's a different beast going on the road and on turf - a couple things that are tough," said Lambinus. "We scrimmaged and opened the regular season on the road. We have some experience, which we're happy about, but it's going to be a really tough game. We beat Mount St. Mary's last year and they're a much improved team and they're probably going to remember that game. It's going to be the hardest game that we've played so far."
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