BETHLEHEM, Pa. - The Lehigh women’s soccer team will look to shake off a pair of overtime losses last weekend when it makes the short trek to Easton Saturday to square off against Lafayette. The match is slated for 7 p.m. and will mark the beginning of Patriot League play for each team.

 

Lehigh played well in both of its last two games, but fell to Saint Joseph’s Friday and La Salle Sunday. Each match went to overtime as the Mountain Hawks let up goals in the first period of extra time.

 

Against Saint Joseph’s, sophomore Darby Wiegand netted her first goal of the season in the 40th minute to tie the score at one. The score could not be settled in regulation, and at 94:17, Nicole King netted the golden goal for the Hawks.

 

Lehigh suffered its second consecutive overtime loss Sunday against La Salle. Junior captain Murphee Greeley scored goals in the ninth and 11th minutes of play to help Lehigh jump out to a 2-0 lead, but the Explorers scored in the 19th minute to cut the lead to one and added a second goal in the 89th minute to send the game to overtime. From there, junior Renee Washington scored in the 96th minute of play to win the game for La Salle.  

 

Greeley now leads Lehigh in goals with three and points with six while five other Mountain Hawks have tallied a goal. Senior Isabelle Li and sophomore Danielle Salans have each posted two assists to pace Lehigh.

Defensively, sophomore Ashley Blanks and freshman Ani Nahapetian have each seen significant time in goal for Lehigh. Blanks owns a 2.19 goals against average (and .718 save percentage) in her 452:53 in net while Nahapetian holds a 2.91 GAA (and .700 save percentage) in her 278:44 in goal.

 

Lafayette enters league play with a 3-5-2 record, including a 2-1-1 mark at home. Jill Dozier paces the Leopards attack with five goals and two assists for 12 points while Alyssa Finelli has tallied three goals and two assists for eight points. Goalkeeper Lauren Smedley has played all 940:00 in net for Lafayette on the season and holds a 1.24 GAA. She has recorded 47 saves for a .783 save percentage.

 

Lehigh leads the all-time series against Lafayette, 14-5-2. A season ago, the Leopards defeated the Mountain Hawks 2-1 to snap Lehigh’s nine match win streak in the series. The first-ever meeting between the two sides was a 2-1 Lehigh victory in 1991.

 

Following Saturday’s game, Lehigh returns to action just two days later when it travels to Columbia to face the Lions on Monday. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.

 

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