Lehigh University Athletics
Mountain Hawks head to Virginia for NCAA First Round on Friday
11/11/2010 3:55:00 AM | Women's Soccer
BETHLEHEM, Pa. - Coming off its first ever Patriot League Championship, the Lehigh women's soccer will play in the program's first NCAA Tournament when it faces national power Virginia on Friday at 5 p.m. The Mountain Hawks enter with an 11-4-4 record while the Cavaliers are 13-4-2. The winner of the first game will face either South Carolina (14-5-4) or UNC Greensboro (19-1-1) in Sunday's Regional Final, also at Klockner Stadium in Charlottesville.
Lehigh capped off a memorable weekend at Army by defeating the host Black Knights to win the Patriot League Championship and the league's automatic bid into the field of 64. The 1-0 thriller marked the Mountain Hawks' third consecutive shutout and second straight in the postseason. Lehigh's two playoff wins were more than it had in program history entering the weekend. The only other victory came in 2004.
The Mountain Hawks have reached double figures in victories for the first time since 2005. They finished the season with an eight-game unbeaten streak against league foes following a 1-0 regular season loss at Army. They went 4-0-2 to close the regular season, while defeating Bucknell and Army in the Patriot League Semifinals and Finals, respectively.
Lehigh has enjoyed a strong balance of defense and offense. The defense has been carrying the squad as of late with its three straight shutouts, but the offense has impressed as well, scoring 35 goals this season, its most since 2003. Five players have scored four or more goals led by senior Liz Carlos' seven. Senior Natalie Hojnacki pulled within one of the team lead with her big goal against Bucknell last Friday.
With Lehigh's championship came a number of awards. Carlos, Hojnacki and fellow senior Lena Cannon were all named to the All-Tournament Team while senior goalkeeper Lauren Mains was named Tournament MVP after stopping all 13 shots she faced in the two wins. Mains was also one of only 17 players nationally named a College Soccer 360 Primetime Performer of the Week on Tuesday. She became the second Mountain Hawk this season (along with Hojnacki) to be named to their national weekly honor roll.
Lehigh also jumped all the way to No. 6 in the most recent NSCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional Poll released on Tuesday, its highest ranking all season.
Ironically enough, entering their final regular season game of the season, the Mountain Hawks hadn't picked up an official road win all year. That changed when they defeated rival Lafayette by a 1-0 final. The momentum carried over into the Patriot League Tournament where they won a neutral site contest against Bucknell before downing Army on its home field. Lehigh is now 2-3-4 on the road this season and 2-1-0 in neutral games.
Virginia has qualified for its 17th straight NCAA Tournament appearance and 23rd overall; only North Carolina and Notre Dame own longer active streaks. The Cavaliers are also hosting the tournament at Klockner Stadium for the 13th time in the past 17 years.
The Cavaliers enter the tournament as an at-large selection after falling to Boston College in the ACC Tournament. They are led by a pair of phenoms up front with Meghan Lenczyk posting 29 points behind 12 goals and five assists. Sinead Farrelly has 27 (10 goals, seven assists) while Lauren Alwine has 17 (four goals, nine assists), Gloria Douglas has 13 (five goals, three assists) and Caroline Miller has 10 (four goals, two assists). Chantel Jones has played all but 41 minutes in goal, posting a 0.62 GAA and .797 save percentage.
Friday will be the first-ever meeting between Virginia and Lehigh, but the Mountain Hawks are 1-3 all-time against the ACC, defeating North Carolina State, 2-0 in 2005, while falling to Maryland once and Virginia Tech twice. Lehigh played the Hokies last year, hanging tough before falling, 1-0.
Should the Mountain Hawks win on Friday, they would advance to Sunday's Regional Final against either UNC-Greensboro or South Carolina. That game is set to kick-off at 2 p.m. Live stats via GameTracker will be available all weekend long.
Tickets for each round are $9 for reserved seats, $7 for adult general admission, and $5 for youth/student/senior citizen general admission. Fans can order tickets for the tournament online at VirginiaSports.com and by phone through the Virginia Athletics Ticket Office at 800-542-UVA1 (8821) or 434-924-UVA1 (8821). Tickets are also available at the gate beginning one hour prior to the start of play each day.
Game-day parking is $5 per day. Parking is available at the Cage Lot and Emmet/Ivy Garage on Friday and at University Hall on Sunday.
Lehigh capped off a memorable weekend at Army by defeating the host Black Knights to win the Patriot League Championship and the league's automatic bid into the field of 64. The 1-0 thriller marked the Mountain Hawks' third consecutive shutout and second straight in the postseason. Lehigh's two playoff wins were more than it had in program history entering the weekend. The only other victory came in 2004.
The Mountain Hawks have reached double figures in victories for the first time since 2005. They finished the season with an eight-game unbeaten streak against league foes following a 1-0 regular season loss at Army. They went 4-0-2 to close the regular season, while defeating Bucknell and Army in the Patriot League Semifinals and Finals, respectively.
Lehigh has enjoyed a strong balance of defense and offense. The defense has been carrying the squad as of late with its three straight shutouts, but the offense has impressed as well, scoring 35 goals this season, its most since 2003. Five players have scored four or more goals led by senior Liz Carlos' seven. Senior Natalie Hojnacki pulled within one of the team lead with her big goal against Bucknell last Friday.
With Lehigh's championship came a number of awards. Carlos, Hojnacki and fellow senior Lena Cannon were all named to the All-Tournament Team while senior goalkeeper Lauren Mains was named Tournament MVP after stopping all 13 shots she faced in the two wins. Mains was also one of only 17 players nationally named a College Soccer 360 Primetime Performer of the Week on Tuesday. She became the second Mountain Hawk this season (along with Hojnacki) to be named to their national weekly honor roll.
Lehigh also jumped all the way to No. 6 in the most recent NSCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional Poll released on Tuesday, its highest ranking all season.
Ironically enough, entering their final regular season game of the season, the Mountain Hawks hadn't picked up an official road win all year. That changed when they defeated rival Lafayette by a 1-0 final. The momentum carried over into the Patriot League Tournament where they won a neutral site contest against Bucknell before downing Army on its home field. Lehigh is now 2-3-4 on the road this season and 2-1-0 in neutral games.
Virginia has qualified for its 17th straight NCAA Tournament appearance and 23rd overall; only North Carolina and Notre Dame own longer active streaks. The Cavaliers are also hosting the tournament at Klockner Stadium for the 13th time in the past 17 years.
The Cavaliers enter the tournament as an at-large selection after falling to Boston College in the ACC Tournament. They are led by a pair of phenoms up front with Meghan Lenczyk posting 29 points behind 12 goals and five assists. Sinead Farrelly has 27 (10 goals, seven assists) while Lauren Alwine has 17 (four goals, nine assists), Gloria Douglas has 13 (five goals, three assists) and Caroline Miller has 10 (four goals, two assists). Chantel Jones has played all but 41 minutes in goal, posting a 0.62 GAA and .797 save percentage.
Friday will be the first-ever meeting between Virginia and Lehigh, but the Mountain Hawks are 1-3 all-time against the ACC, defeating North Carolina State, 2-0 in 2005, while falling to Maryland once and Virginia Tech twice. Lehigh played the Hokies last year, hanging tough before falling, 1-0.
Should the Mountain Hawks win on Friday, they would advance to Sunday's Regional Final against either UNC-Greensboro or South Carolina. That game is set to kick-off at 2 p.m. Live stats via GameTracker will be available all weekend long.
Tickets for each round are $9 for reserved seats, $7 for adult general admission, and $5 for youth/student/senior citizen general admission. Fans can order tickets for the tournament online at VirginiaSports.com and by phone through the Virginia Athletics Ticket Office at 800-542-UVA1 (8821) or 434-924-UVA1 (8821). Tickets are also available at the gate beginning one hour prior to the start of play each day.
Game-day parking is $5 per day. Parking is available at the Cage Lot and Emmet/Ivy Garage on Friday and at University Hall on Sunday.
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