BOSTON - Boston University took an early lead and the Lehigh women's soccer team couldn't rebound as the Terriers downed the Mountain Hawks 3-0 on Saturday afternoon. Lehigh fired 10 shots for the game, but couldn't hold down Boston University's offense which posted 20 shots, nine on goal. The loss drops the Mountain Hawks' record to 6-6-3 and Patriot League mark to 1-3-2, but they remain just two points out of sixth place and a league tournament spot with three games still remaining.
 
"BU is a very good team, especially at home," said Lehigh head coach Eric Lambinus. "You have to be at your best to compete with them. At times, we were, but not enough. Losing Adrian (Vitello) early in the game really hurt us. She's a difference maker in the midfield. Losing her to injury early on really changed our game plan. Once we adjusted and changed a few things at halftime, we were better, but not for a long enough period of time."
 
Boston University began the game with a corner kick and four straight shots before the game was 10 minutes old. At the 9:15 mark, senior goalkeeper Ani Nahapetian made a strong save off Christina Wakefield's initial shot, but the ball bounced to Nahapetian's left and Jenna Fisher buried the rebound into the open net to make it 1-0.
 
Lehigh tallied its first shot in the 20th minute, off the foot of senior Katie Centeno. Less than two minutes later, sophomore Lexi Chang had the Mountain Hawks' first shot on goal. Shortly after, Lehigh earned its first corner kick of the game in the 32nd minute. The Mountain Hawks couldn't convert and just over 30 seconds after the opportunity, Boston University countered. A long pass freed up Fisher near the end line. She passed back to Jesse Schreck, who was just a few feet in front of Nahapetian and Schreck converted the goal to make it 2-0.
 
The Terriers generated three corner kicks in the final five minutes of the first half, but Lehigh's defense stood tall to keep the deficit at two after 45 minutes of play.
 
Boston University generated opportunities early in the second half, perhaps none better than a McKenna Doyle shot in the 51st minute, but Nahapetian came out aggressively to make the save.
 
Not long after, Lehigh began to create opportunities, which included two shots on goal in a 2:03 span beginning in the 60th minute. Chang had one of the opportunities from the top of the box while Centeno had the other.
 
Both teams generated chances over the ensuing minutes, but couldn't find the back of the net until the Terriers added insurance in the 78th minute as a centering pass was headed just inside the right post to make it 3-0.
 
Nahapetian responded with a save in the 86th minute, her sixth of the game. Lehigh hung tough in the second half, outshot 9-6, but couldn't muster enough offense.
 
Final shots were 20-10 in favor of Boston University while the Terriers held a 5-3 edge in corner kicks. Nahapetian's six saves came across BU's Alyssa Parisi who made four.
 
"I think we have good confidence moving forward," said Lambinus. "We can take confidence from some things we're doing. We have to do that for longer periods of time and demand more of each other."
 
The Mountain Hawks will return home for their final two regular season home games as they welcome archrival Lafayette on Wednesday and Bucknell on Saturday. Both games will kick off at 7 p.m.
 
"We played two really good teams this week on the road; we knew it was going to be tough," said Lambinus. "We probably have the best game to move onto, which is Lafayette. I have no doubt we'll be ready to play. We have to go in with the mindset of winning every game moving forward. The league is still available if we get some wins, but it has to start with Lafayette."
 
Like Lehigh Women's Soccer on Facebook and follow on Twitter for continued updates on the Mountain Hawks.

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