BETHLEHEM, Pa. - Junior Katie Centeno scored the game's only goal in the 13th minute and the Lehigh women's soccer defense took care of the rest, shutting out American 1-0 to give the Mountain Hawks their first Patriot League opening win since 2006 on Saturday at the Ulrich Sports Complex. Junior Ani Nahapetian made five saves, including four in the second half, for her fifth-career shutout.
 
"I'm pretty proud of our team. It was definitely a team effort," said Lehigh head coach Eric Lambinus. "We've had a great week of training. All 27 players contributed at some point for this win. It feels really good to come out of our first Patriot League game 1-0."
 
Saturday marked the fourth straight time Lehigh and American have played to a 1-0 final, with each side winning twice.
 
After Nahapetian snagged an easy save in the game's first minute, the Lehigh offense took over and the pressure led to a goal on the Mountain Hawks' first shot of the game. On the right side, sophomore Madeline Walsh made a cross which found its way through to Centeo, who scored into the left side of the net to make it 1-0 at the 12:41 mark.
 
The teams continued to play a fairly defensive game until late in the first half when junior Paige Elliott found herself in all alone on American goalie Charlene Belanger. Belanger came out strong to cut down the angle and make the save off a hard Elliott shot in the 42nd minute, keeping it 1-0 at the half.
 
The Eagles increased their pressure early in the second half, forcing Nahapetian to make a tremendous leaping save off a Kirsten Eriksen header in the 54th minute. The ball looked ticketed for under the crossbar, but Nahapetian was there to punch it away and force a second straight corner kick.
 
Nahapetian went on to make four more second-half saves, but Belanger was put to the test as well. In the 81st minute, the American goalkeeper made a diving stop of a Darby Wiegand shot that would have made it 2-0. The Eagles nearly took advantage with offensive pressure in the final minutes, but Lehigh's defense was there for its third shutout of the season.
 
"These games matter so much because every minute counts," said Lambinus. "You have to fight and battle. Sometimes, they're not the prettiest games. There's just so much determination that sometimes, it's a little bit ugly. I honestly think we won this one ugly, but it was important to do it that way."
 
Final shots were 14-7 in favor of American while the Mountain Hawks held a 4-2 edge in corner kicks. Nahapetian finished with five saves while Belanger had four.
 
Lehigh returns to action on Friday when it travels to Bucknell to face the Bison. Opening kickoff is set for 7 p.m.
 
"Our expectation is to compete like we did today in every game," said Lambinus. "Bucknell is a really tough team. They're tremendously improved from last year. Our goal is to take each game, prepare the best we can, play the best we can and see what happens from there."
 
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