BETHLEHEM, Pa. - The Lehigh women's soccer team controlled play in the early going, but Lafayette struck in the 30th minute which proved to be the difference as the Mountain Hawks dropped a hard-fought 1-0 final on Wednesday evening. Lehigh held a 9-6 edge in shots, but the Leopards made the most of their two shots on goal, putting one in the back of the net while forcing sophomore goalie Ani Nahapetian to make a strong save on the other.
 
With the loss, Lehigh falls to 0-3-0 in Patriot League play with six league games still remaining. Lafayette improves to 1-2-0.
 
"This game was very typical of our season so far," said Lehigh head coach Eric Lambinus. "I thought we played well and played with heart and desire. I thought we played the right way; we gave up a goal and didn't score a goal. I fully believed the entire game that we were going to score.
 
"It's hard right now to continue to do it the right way when you're not getting the results," he continued. "I give credit to Lafayette for scoring the goal and defending well, and I give credit to our team who continued to play."
 
Lafayette had a chance less than a minute into the game, but Nahapetian came out strong to take away the scoring chance.
 
Lehigh responded with pressure, unleashing the first four shots on goal. It began with a shot from junior Darby Dustman in the third minute while senior Murphee Greeley had the next two and sophomore Katie Centeno had a chance at 20:05.
 
"We had a good spark at the beginning," said Lambinus. "We have to take that momentum and take advantage of those opportunities. The hard part about soccer is you can do the right things and not be successful. One or two goals can be the difference."
 
The Leopards struck at 29:08 off a corner kick as Jaclyn Giordano headed a ball into the back of the net to make it 1-0.
 
Nahapetian came up with a big stop in the 35th minute, sprawling to her right to save a low Giordano shot and keep Lehigh within 1-0.
 
Lafayette had a golden opportunity in the 58th minute from the top of the box that sailed wide. From that point forward, Lehigh turned up the pressure with several chances. Less than five minutes later, freshman Leah Holmes made a nifty centering feed that was just out of the reach of the Lehigh forwards.
 
The Mountain Hawks continued to pressure, but couldn't beat Leopards goalkeeper Danielle Sedillo as Lehigh fell to Lafayette 1-0 for a third straight season.
 
Final shots were 9-6 in favor of Lehigh while Lafayette held a 2-1 edge in corner kicks. Nahapetian finished with one save across Sedillo who made five.
 
The Mountain Hawks will vie for their first Patriot League victory on Saturday when they travel to Boston to face new league member Boston University. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. Lehigh will return home next Saturday (Oct. 12) to face Loyola at 7 p.m.
 
"Our players continue to play hard and continue to play the right way," said Lambinus. "If we do everything the right way, in training and practice, eventually this pays off. I believe that it will, and they believe as well. Eventually it will pay off if we believe in the process."
 
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