Lehigh wraps up nonconference slate at Penn on Wednesday
10/26/2010 6:19:00 PM | Women's Soccer
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – The Lehigh women's soccer team wraps up the regular season this week with a pair of games, starting with a nonconference tilt at Pennsylvania on Wednesday (5 p.m.). The playoff bound Mountain Hawks (8-3-4, 3-1-2 PL) are coming off a pair of ties to clinch their first Patriot League Tournament berth since 2006.
Wednesday will mark the third time the Mountain Hawks will play at Penn's Rhodes Field this season. In early September, they took part in the Penn Invitational where they lost to Dayton and defeated Saint Joseph's.
Last weekend's draws extended Lehigh's league unbeaten streak to five. It hasn't lost a Patriot League game since the league opener at Army on Oct.1. Friday night's tie snapped a seven-game losing streak at Navy while Sunday marked the Mountain Hawks' first-ever positive result at American in school history. They had been 0-6 coming in.
The weekend featured two very different games. On Friday, the Mountain Hawks took a 1-0 lead midway through the first half behind senior Glynn Fitzer's fourth goal of the season. They continued to control possession and come up with sparkling scoring chances, but couldn't add to the lead. Navy capitalized when it tied the score in the 87th minute.
Lehigh fell behind on Sunday for the first time in Patriot League play since the opener at Army. That snapped an incredible run of 380:27 in which the Mountain Hawks hadn't trailed in league play, spanning more than four games. Lehigh continued to fight back, however, and senior Lena Cannon created a great chance midway through the second half when she was tripped up in the box. The foul was called and fellow senior Liz Carlos converted the subsequent penalty kick for the game-tying goal.
The Mountain Hawks remain at No. 9 in the most recently NSCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional Rankings released on Tuesday. They initially cracked the rankings last week for the first time since 2005. Lehigh remains one of two Patriot League teams in the rankings along with Army, which comes in at No. 5.
Penn is Lehigh's third Ivy League opponent of the season. The Mountain Hawks have already tied Columbia, 1-1, while falling via a late goal at Princeton. Both squads are regionally ranked, while the Quakers were also ranked earlier this season. Penn is currently tied for first in the Ivy League (with Columbia) behind 3-1-1 league records. Princeton and Harvard are second with 3-2-0 marks.
The Quakers are 7-6-1 overall. Sarah Friedman leads a very balanced offensive attack with 10 points via two goals and six assists. Kerry Scalora has nine (four goals, one assist) while Marin McDermott has seven (three goals, one assist). Caroline Williams has been stellar in goal, playing all but eight minutes with 0.92 GAA and .809 save percentage.
Penn leads the all-time series, 11-1. After the teams split the first two meetings, the Quakers have won 10 straight. Lehigh will be looking for its first-ever road win against Penn.
Fans can follow all of Wednesday's action with live stats.
The Mountain Hawks conclude the regular season at Lafayette on Saturday before opening Patriot League Tournament action next weekend at a site to-be determined. Should Lehigh beat Lafayette and both Army and Bucknell lose or tie, the Mountain Hawks would win the Patriot League Regular Season Championship and host the league tournament for the first time since 2005.
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