Lehigh University
Colgate
Mountain Hawks rout Colgate for first league win
10/9/2009 9:00:00 PM | Women's Soccer
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HAMILTON, N.Y. – Lehigh matched its season high in goals as the Mountain Hawks picked up their first Patriot League victory of the season with a convincing 4-1 victory over Colgate Friday night at Van Doren Field. Four different Mountain Hawks scored goals and senior Liz Carlos added a pair of assists as Lehigh ran its unbeaten streak to five games. Lehigh improves to 7-2-3 overall and 1-0-1 in the Patriot League with the win.
It took the visitors just under six minutes to take an early lead as junior Glynn Fitzer headed in Carlos’ corner kick for her third goal of the season.
Despite relentless Lehigh pressure, the game remained 1-0 into halftime, with the Mountain Hawks out-shooting the Raiders 12-3 in the first 45 minutes and holding a 3-1 advantage in corner kicks.
“The first half might have been the best half of soccer we’ve played all season in terms of focus and execution,” said Lehigh head coach Manny Oudin. “Getting an early goal helped set the tone, but we were also able to create a good amount of chances on top of that goal.”
The Mountain Hawks wasted little time extending their lead in the second half as the team’s co-captains combined to put Lehigh up 2-0 a mere 21 seconds into the half. Hailey Coonrad sprung Natalie Hojnacki on a breakaway and Hojnacki slipped the ball past Raider keeper Ashley Walsh for her team-leading fourth goal of the season.
Lehigh’s lead grew to 3-0 in the 52nd minute as junior Lena Cannon netted her second goal of the season. Three minutes later, the Mountain Hawks struck again as Carlos lured Walsh off her line and then crossed the ball to sophomore Genna Pepe who put the ball home for her second tally of the season.
Colgate broke up the shutout bid in the 56th minute when Jillian Kinter scored with an assist from Anna Baldwin, but the four-goal deficit was too much for the Raiders to overcome as Lehigh picked up the win and surpassed its win total from 2008.
“Colgate’s a talented team,” said Oudin. “We certainly expected them to come out with some fire in the second half. We scored 21 seconds in and added two more goals after that. When you go up 4-0 it is tough for the other team to rebound, but they’re a good team with talented players and they fought hard.
For the night, Lehigh out-shot Colgate 21-9 while the Raiders had a 5-3 edge in corners. Oudin was especially pleased with the performances turned in by Coonrad in the back and his midfield unit as a whole.
“Hailey was fantastic tonight,” noted Oudin. “She did a great job keeping us organized and really set the tone for us in the back. I thought our midfield was very good as well. They did a great job against a good Colgate midfield unit.”
Junior Lauren Mains made three saves for Lehigh while Walsh finished with five saves for the Raiders, who are now 4-6-3 overall and 0-1-1 in the league.
“Our mentality has been good,” said Oudin about his team’s ability to shake off two disappoint draws in its last two matches. “We’ve been a little unlucky. We hoped for better results against Army and Columbia but the only thing we could was to learn from our setbacks and keep going forward, which we did well tonight.”
The Mountain Hawks return to the pitch on Sunday when they wrap-up the weekend road trip at Bucknell. Game time is set for 1 p.m. from Emmitt Field.
