BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Lehigh held steady in the latest polls from Soccer Buzz magazine, released Monday evening. The Mountain Hawks remain ninth in the Mid-Atlantic region after winning their only game last week, a 1-0 blanking of archrival Lafayette Saturday at the Ulrich Sports Complex. While the Brown and White did not move up in the polls, the Mountain Hawks and freshman goalkeeper Julie Kafka continued their rise in the NCAA statistical rankings.
The Mountain Hawks’ shutout of Lafayette was their third straight victory and improved their record to 9-1-1 on the season. All nine of Lehigh’s victories have been by shutout and after starting the season by not allowing a goal in over 456 minutes, the Mountain Hawks have started a new shutout streak, which currently stands at 354 minutes. Lehigh has yielded just two goals this season, the fewest in Division I women’s soccer.
As a team, Lehigh has taken over the NCAA lead in both goals-against average (0.177) and shots on goals save percentage (0.959). The Mountain Hawks rank second in shutout percentage and are twelfth in winning percentage (0.864).
Saturday’s shutout of Lafayette was the eighth of the season for Kafka, who set a new school record for shutouts in a season by a goalkeeper. The Baltimore native is now second nationally with a 0.196 goals-against average and a save percentage of 0.953.
Lehigh returns to the pitch on Friday when the Mountain Hawks head to Hamilton, N.Y. to take on Colgate. The Raiders are currently ranked eighth in the Northeast region by Soccer Buzz. The game will be a rematch of last season’s Patriot League championship game, won by Colgate 2-0. Game time is set for 7:00 from Van Doren Field.
