Lehigh University
Marist
Last minute rally propels Lehigh to OT win
8/25/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
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The Mountain Hawks had the better of the chances in a scoreless first half, highlighted by a diving header attempt from senior Lauren Fornuto that went just wide of the near post.
Marist took the lead 55 minutes in, when Jenna McCrory sent a through ball behind the Lehigh defense that Kate Fox slipped past Lehigh goalkeeper Julie Kafka to give Red Foxes a 1-0 lead. The Mountain Hawks tried desperately for an equalizer, sending several shots just wide of the net. A foul committed against Molina gave the Mountain Hawks a free kick with under a minute to play, and junior Michaela Pawlewicz sent in a perfect free kick that Coonrad put home for her first career goal with just 12 seconds left in regulation.
The winning goal came in the 98th minute, when senior Lauren Clabrese, chasing down a loose ball, collided with Red Foxes’ goalkeeper Caitlin Nazarechuk, knocking the ball loose behind the Marist defense. Molina pounced on the loose ball and calmly slid the ball into the corner of the net to give Lehigh the win.
“Give Marist credit,” said head coach Manny Oudin. “We played a good 10-15 minutes. They outworked us in the first half and they deserved to be up. We made some young mistakes but we persevered. To be able to come back and get a goal and then get a result and start the season on a positive note.”
The Mountain Hawks were without injured midfielders Gina Lewandowski and Shannon Lockwood, but managed to outshoot Marist 26-10. Kafka made five saves to earn the win in goal, while Nazarechuk kept Marist in the game with nine stops on the night.
Lehigh will return to the pitch on Sunday when the Mountain Hawks host Stony Brook. Game time is set for 1:00 pm with audio and video coverage online at lehighsports.com with streaming provided by Yahoo! Sports.
