Lehigh Topples American 2-1, Advances to Patriot League Tournament

Saturday, October 23

Washington, D.C.

1 p.m.

Lehigh University

6-8-1, 4-3-1

American

5-8-2, 2-4-2

Team	1	2	Final F
Lehigh	1	1	2
American	0	1	1

Photo by: Justin Lafleur

Lehigh Topples American 2-1, Advances to Patriot League Tournament

10/23/2021 5:21:00 PM | Women's Soccer

Box Score

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Behind goals from a pair of seniors, and a strong overall team effort, the Lehigh women's soccer picked up a big 2-1 win at American on Saturday afternoon. Coupled with Colgate's loss at American, the Mountain Hawks have advanced to the Patriot League Tournament for the fourth time in the last six seasons.

"It's great to qualify for the postseason with a game in hand," said Lehigh head coach Eric Lambinus. "With the depth of the Patriot League, I think any one of the six teams that make the playoffs can win it. We've put ourselves in position to be that team. We just have to continue to improve each game. It's an exciting time for the team."

Seniors Courtney Supp and Rebecca Van Siclen accounted for the Mountain Hawks' goals. American responded in the 68th minute, but the Lehigh defense stood tall down the stretch.

"I thought we worked really hard," said Lambinus. "We put them under good pressure. When we won the ball, we made a lot of good decisions with it. We always have created chances, but we finished two good chances today. We weathered the times we didn't play as well and didn't give up that many great chances, and I think that's the difference between winning and losing."

Lehigh came out strong, firing four shots (one on goal) before the game was 5:05 old. Just over seven minutes later, junior Julianna Bonner made a strong feed into the box to Supp, who found herself behind the goalkeeper, and easily tapped it in at the 12:15 mark.

Courtney Supp opened today's scoring in the 13th minute with this great goal at American! pic.twitter.com/Sr2b1AaCsl
— Lehigh W. Soccer (@LehighWSoccer) October 23, 2021

That score held into the second half, when again, the Mountain Hawks came out of the locker room firing. Near midfield, freshman Hope Flanegin played a great ball into the box to Van Siclen, who made a touch past the goalkeeper and tapped it into the open net to make it 2-0 at 58:13.

Rebecca Van Siclen scored what would prove to be the game-winning goal in the 59th minute, off a great pass from Hope Flanegin! pic.twitter.com/c14m0PMtic
— Lehigh W. Soccer (@LehighWSoccer) October 23, 2021

American converted its next corner, and shot, into a goal off a corner kick at the 67:35 mark, but the Lehigh defense held strong from there. Freshman Abby Trainor made a pair of saves down the stretch to help wrap up the 2-1 victory.

What a save by Abby Trainor in the 77th minute, to keep the Mountain Hawks in front! pic.twitter.com/mYPHyKZ1E1
— Lehigh W. Soccer (@LehighWSoccer) October 23, 2021

Final shots were 12-10 in favor of the Eagles, while American held a 4-2 edge in corner kicks. Trainor finished with three stops across Julia Kato, who made one for American.

"I've been pretty hard on the team, probably too hard because they're young," said Lambinus. "I see a lot of potential in the team. Today, we had energy throughout. We've gotten better. This was probably the most consistent 90 minutes that we've played, with the most pressure on us [as well]. I'm just really impressed with the players and the way they came out with great energy.

"We started the game really well," Lambinus continued. "The first 10 minutes were probably the best 10 minutes we've played all year. In the second half, scoring the first goal was awesome. We didn't give up anything really the last 10 minutes. Over the course of the year, they have matured in the way they play."

The Mountain Hawks will close out the regular season on Wednesday when they host Bucknell at 6 p.m. With a win, Lehigh would clinch a home game in the Patriot League Quarterfinals, set for Sunday, Oct. 31. The Mountain Hawks could still finish as high as the No. 3 seed and as low as the No. 6 seed.

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