Lehigh hits the road for crucial weekend at Navy, American
10/21/2010 4:29:00 PM | Women's Soccer
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – The Lehigh women's soccer team looks to continue its postseason push when it hits the road to face Navy on Friday (7 p.m.) and American on Sunday (1 p.m.). The Mountain Hawks (8-3-2, 3-1-0 Patriot League) enter the weekend tied for first with only three league games remaining.
Fans can follow all the action with live stats on Friday and video on Sunday.
With two wins, the Mountain Hawks would clinch a Patriot League Tournament berth, and could clinch with fewer depending on out-of-town results. Lehigh's last league game is Saturday, Oct. 30 at Lafayette and should the Mountain Hawks win all three, they would assure themselves of at least a share of the regular season championship, while hosting the conference tournament for the first time since 2005.
Regionally ranked for the first time since that '05 season, Lehigh currently stands ninth in the NSCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional Rankings. The Mountain Hawks are one of two Patriot League teams ranked along with Army. Overall, they've played four of the top seven teams in the Mid-Atlantic Rankings: Dayton (2), Columbia (3), Princeton (5) and Army (7). Lehigh has been close in every game this season; all three of its losses have been by a single-goal, with two ending in overtime. Last Wednesday's 1-0 defeat at Princeton was actually its first regulation loss of the year.
The squad bounced back from the Princeton defeat with a convincing 3-0 win over Holy Cross on Saturday, its first over the Crusaders since 2006. After a slow start, junior Genna Pepe got the scoring started with a goal off a free kick. That turned momentum in the Mountain Hawks' favor and they cruised from that point forward.
The win was significant as it wrapped up Lehigh's first-ever undefeated regular season at home. The Mountain Hawks are riding a nine-game home winning streak dating back to last season, four shy of the school record set from 2004-05.
Along with the team's regional ranking are a number of individual accolades. Pepe and freshman Paige Dyrek earned Patriot League Defensive Player and Rookie of the Week this past Monday, becoming the eighth and ninth different Lehigh players to be honored this season. Overall, the Mountain Hawks have won 10 weekly awards – winning Offensive and Defensive Player of the Week three times while garnering Goalkeeper and Rookie of the Week twice.
Navy enters the weekend with a 9-7-1 overall record, 2-2-0 in league play. The Midshipmen are currently tied with Colgate for the fourth and final postseason spot. They're coming off a 1-0 home loss to Bucknell which bounced them from the regional rankings.
The Midshipmen are led on the offensive end by Ashlynn Soellner with 15 points behind six goals and three assists. Carissa Youker has 14 points (five goals, four assists), while Paloma Perez has 12 (five goals, two assists). Four different goalies have seen time, including two who have started. Hannah Legler has started 10 games, posting a 1.13 GAA and .732 save percentage while Alexes Lopez-Shaw has started seven times, posting a 1.32 GAA and .800 save percentage.
Navy leads the all-time series, 12-3-3. The Mountain Hawks haven't beaten the Midshipmen since 2005 when they were victorious, 1-0. Lehigh lost last year's meeting by a slim 2-1 final.
American is currently on the outside of the playoff picture looking in, but within two points of the final tournament berth at 5-10-1 overall and 1-2-1 in the Patriot League. The Eagles are led on the offensive end by Brooke Sheppard with eight points (three goals, two assists), followed by Kendra Jones with five (two goals, one assist) and Jasmine Mohandesi with three (three assists). Arianna Efstathiou and Lindsey Farthig have split time in goal, posting goals against averages of 2.13 and 1.44, respectively. Farthig leads the way with a .755 save percentage while Efstathiou's is .686.
American leads the all-time series, 8-4, but Lehigh did win last year's meeting by a 2-0 final. The teams have split the last six meetings overall, with all three Mountain Hawk losses coming by only a single goal.
Following this weekend's games, Lehigh travels to Pennsylvania for a mid-week nonconference clash against the Quakers before ending the regular season at Lafayette next Saturday.\
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