BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Lehigh faces perhaps its toughest test to date Friday night as the Mountain Hawks welcome Atlantic Coast Conference member North Carolina State to the Ulrich Sports Complex. The Mountain Hawks yielded their first goal of the season Tuesday night at Saint Joseph’s, but junior Gina Lewandowski was able to even the score five minutes before halftime and the Brown and White left Philadelphia with a 1-1 tie. Lehigh is still unbeaten in 2005 as the Mountain Hawks bring a record of 5-0-1 into tonight’s game. Sophomore Jen Fetsick scored in both of Lehigh’s victories last week and was honored as the Offensive Player of the Week in the Patriot League.
Lewandowski leads a balanced Lehigh attack with three goals this season. The junior captain has scored in each of Lehigh’s previous two contests. Fetsick and junior Daniela Molina are tied for second on the team with two goals and five points apiece.
The Mountain Hawks defense has been stellar all season, allowing only the goal against Saint Joseph’s on Tuesday. Lehigh had started the season with a school record five consecutive shutouts and a scoreless streak that came to an end at 456 minutes and 24 seconds. Freshman Julie Kafka has seen most of the work in goal for the Brown and White. Kafka is 4-0-1 with four shutouts and a miniscule 0.19 goals against average, playing behind a defensive unit that has committed itself to keeping teams off the scoreboard.
Following a 4-0 start to the season, NC State lost its last two matches as the Wolfpack come to Bethlehem with a 4-2 mark. Last week NC State dropped a pair of games at home by 1-0 scores, losing to Samford and Oregon. Junior Carol Tognetti leads the offense with three goals and seven points, while the goalkeeping tandem of Kim Selz and Megan Connors has allowed a total of three goals in six games.
Friday night’s game marks the first meeting between these two schools in women’s soccer. The contest kicks off at 7:00 from the Ulrich Sports Complex in Bethlehem and will be broadcast live on the web at lehighsports.com with streaming audio and video provided by Yahoo! Sports.
