BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Lehigh extended its un-scored upon streak to 354 minutes with a 1-0 blanking of archrival Lafayette on Saturday evening before a boisterous crowd at the Ulrich Sports Complex. The game-winning score came at the 8:17 mark when junior Daniela Molina blasted a shot into the back of the net, following a scramble in front of the goal, which featured several attempts and misses by the Mountain Hawks. Lehigh has now registered a shut out in each of its nine wins, and for the season, sits at 9-1-1 overall and 1-0 in Patriot League action. Lafayette falls to 1-6-3 and 0-1 in league play.
Lehigh out shot its counterparts by a ridiculous 36-3 margin for the game, but was still only able to muster the one score. Head coach Manny Oudin expressed his displeasure following the match. “It’s not the fact that we scored only one goal out here tonight. I think we came out flat-footed and reacted to how they (Lafayette) played. As little opportunities as they had, they still had their chances.”
Oudin continued, “We need to continue to stay focused, I think we relaxed too much, and reacted to a lot of what they did.”
The Mountain Hawks had four corners for the match, while Lafayette had just one. The Leopards were whistled for nine fouls, to Lehigh’s eight, and the Brown and White were called for off-sides on three occasions. Freshman Julie Kafka made two stops in the net for the Mountain Hawks, to pick up her eighth shut out of her career, while Lafayette keeper Mary Kate Erdman sent back 18 Mountain Hawk shots.
Junior captain Gina Lewandowski led Lehigh with 13 shots on the evening, while Jen Chamberlain led the Leopards with two.
Lehigh returns to action on Friday, October 7, when the Mountain Hawks make the trek to Hamilton, N.Y. to take on Patriot League foe Colgate. That game is scheduled to begin at 7:00, and will feature a rematch of last season’s Patriot League Championship contest.
