BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Lehigh will play its final non-league match of the regular season on Wednesday evening as the Mountain Hawks welcome the regionally-ranked Princeton Tigers to the Ulrich Sports Complex. The Mountain Hawks (5-5-3) will be looking to snap a four game winless streak and will try to build momentum heading into Saturday’s key Patriot League showdown with rival Lafayette.
The Mountain Hawks picked up their first point in Patriot League play with a scoreless draw against Navy on Sunday. The Lehigh back four of Michaela Pawlewicz, Courtney Jackson, Anndrea Yetter and Emily Means all had strong efforts to keep the Mids off the scoreboard, while freshman Lauren Mains made seven saves in 65 minutes, including four in overtime. Lehigh has not won since defeating Mount St. Mary’s 1-0 on September 28, and the Mountain Hawks have never beaten Princeton.
Princeton, ranked eighth in the Mid-Atlantic region, enters Wednesday’s game at 6-4-1 overall. The Tigers improved to 3-0 in the Ivy League with a 2-0 win over Columbia on Sunday, a win which extended Princeton’s winning streak to six games after the Tigers started the year 0-4-1. The Tigers are led offensively by Diana Matheson, who has three goals and six assists in just four games since returning from the Women’s World Cup in China, where she played for Canada. Princeton has made eight NCAA tournament appearances, including six straight from 1999-2004. The Tigers reached the national semifinals in 2004, losing 2-0 to UCLA.
Princeton has dominated the all-time series, leading 12-0, including a 5-0 win last year in New Jersey. Lehigh has only scored one goal against the Tigers, back in 1994, when Princeton prevailed 2-1 in overtime.
Wednesday night’s game kicks off at 7 p.m. from the Ulrich Sports Complex, and will be broadcast line online at Lehighsports.com, with streaming powered by Yahoo! Sports. The game can also be seen in the Lehigh Valley on Service Electric 2 Sports, Wednesday at 10 p.m.
