Lehigh University
American
Lehigh rolls to impressive 2-0 win over American
10/25/2009 2:30:00 PM | Women's Soccer
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BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Senior Liz Carlos scored a pair of goals as Lehigh temporarily kept its Patriot League tournament hopes alive with a convincing 2-0 victory over American Sunday afternoon at the Ulrich Sports Complex. The Mountain Hawks responded to Friday night’s loss to Navy with one of their most complete performances of the season, as Carlos scored twice and the defense did not allow a shot on goal en route to Lehigh’s eighth shutout this season.
With a win, Lehigh improves to 8-4-5 overall and 2-2-2 in the league. The Mountain Hawks were eliminated from postseason contention after Colgate defeated Army later Sunday afternoon.
“The difference in our performance from today to Friday night was minimal,” said Lehigh head coach Manny Oudin. “Our mentality was the same as Friday night but the difference today was that we were opportunistic when we needed to be. As a team we need to be opportunistic with our chances. We weren’t on Friday but we were today.”
Carlos put the Mountain Hawks in front in the ninth minute when she took a through ball from senior Natalie Hojnacki and fired a shot over the outstretched arms of American keeper Arianna Efstathiou and just under the crossbar to put Lehigh up 1-0.
Lehigh outshot American 11-3 in the first half and the Mountain Hawks thwarted an Eagles rush in the final minutes of the half when Marissa Crollett’s shot was blocked and cleared off the line by senior Alex Warren.
After some early Eagles pressure in the second half, Lehigh capitalized on an American defensive miscue to add an insurance goal. An American defender hit a teammate in the back with a clearance attempt, and Carlos found herself open with the ball in the middle of the box. Carlos’ strike to the corner of the net was her team-leading sixth goal of the season and it put the Mountain Hawks up 2-0.
From there the Lehigh defense took over. The Mountain Hawks outshot the Eagles 22-7 on the day and did not allow a shot on goal, allowing junior Lauren Mains to earn the clean sheet without having to make a save.
Efstathiou finished with four saves for American, which falls to 9-9 overall 4-2 in the league.
“I’m proud of the effort today,” explained Oudin. “It would have been easy to come out and be down after Friday night, but we showed great character and played a strong game.”
The Mountain Hawks will wrap-up the regular season Saturday night when they host rival Lafayette at the Ulrich Sports Complex at 7 p.m. Fans can watch the Lehigh-Lafayette tilt online at Lehighsports.com.
Lehigh - American Post-Match Extra
