Lehigh University
La Salle
Lehigh battles La Salle to scoreless draw
9/4/2009 9:15:00 PM | Women's Soccer
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BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Lehigh battled unbeaten La Salle for 110 minutes and after neither team could muster a goal, the two sides settled for a 0-0 draw Friday night at McCarthy Field. The Mountain Hawks owned a 19-15 advantage in shots, but Explorer goalkeeper Melissa Sanger made 13 saves to keep Lehigh off the scoreboard. Junior Lauren Mains made seven saves to post a clean sheet for Lehigh, which moves to 1-1-1 on the season. La Salle failed to win for the first time in five tries and now stands at 4-0-1.
“It was a hard fought game,” said Lehigh head coach Manny Oudin. “Both teams worked incredibly hard. Both teams showed tremendous work rate for 90 minutes and then into the overtime period. We still had something left in the tank in the second overtime. We were able to create some opportunities and their goalkeeper made some tremendous saves.”
After 90 minutes of soccer, the teams remained scoreless with Lehigh out-shooting La Salle by a 14-12 margin. The Explorers were credited with the only shot of the first overtime period. The Mountain Hawks mustered a late rally firing five shots in the second overtime period, but Sanger made key saves on senior Hailey Coonrad, junior Glynn Fitzer and sophomore Megan Cain to keep the game scoreless.
“This was one of those games where the goalkeepers on both sides made saves when they had to,” explained Oudin. “La Salle looks to be a very strong team, and I’m proud of the effort we showed out there tonight.”
Senior Natalie Hojnacki led the Mountain Hawks with six shots on the night, including five on goal. Classmate Liz Carlos and Fitzer added three shots apiece for Lehigh. Traci DePasquale paced La Salle with five shots on the evening.
The Mountain Hawks return to the pitch on Sunday when they travel to Albany, N.Y. to face the Great Danes of Albany. Game time is set for 2 p.m. from Varsity Field.
