Bucknell Scores Twice in Second Half to Down Lehigh in PL Quarterfinals

Sunday, October 31

Lewisburg, Pa.

1 p.m.

Lehigh University

6-10-1

Bucknell (Quarterfinals)

9-7-3

Team	1	2	Final F
Lehigh	0	0	0
Bucknell	0	2	2

Photo by: Justin Lafleur

Bucknell Scores Twice in Second Half to Down Lehigh in PL Quarterfinals

10/31/2021 4:08:00 PM | Women's Soccer

Box Score Photo Gallery

LEWISBURG, Pa. – Fourth-seeded Bucknell scored less than two minutes into the second half to take a lead, then added insurance in the 79th minute, and despite the Lehigh women's soccer team firing 18 shots, the fifth-seeded Mountain Hawks couldn't put one past Bison goalkeeper Jenna Hall in a 2-0 loss on Sunday afternoon. The Patriot League Quarterfinal defeat ends Lehigh's season, which saw it advance to its fourth league tournament in the last six seasons.

"I thought in the first half, we came out a little bit slow, but on the road, that's probably expected," said Lehigh head coach Eric Lambinus. "We worked our way into the game and had a great end of the first half. This season, we've always started the second half a little bit slowly. That's exactly what happened and we gave up a goal, but after that, we had to have created 10 quality chances. I thought our team played really well, played with a lot of emotion, a lot of passion and were awesome throughout the entire game. There wasn't a minute that I didn't think we couldn't score or get ourselves back into the game."

Bucknell came out of the gate with the first three shots and five of the first seven, with each goalkeeper making an early save. Lehigh responded by finishing the half with five of the last six shots, including a rocket from senior Courtney Supp in the 45th minute which looked ticketed for the top right corner, but Hall made an impressive stop to keep the game scoreless at the half.

A back-and-forth second half saw 27 combined shots – 16 for Bucknell and 11 for Lehigh. After two shots in the first minute of the stanza, the Bison converted on their third, as Hannah Stuck tapped in a cross at the back post to give Bucknell a 1-0 lead.

The Bison ended up firing 10 of the first 11 second-half shots, including a flurry of three shots in the 59th minute off successive corner kicks, but the Mountain Hawks' defense stood tall. Included was a team save from sophomore Imani Ashman, who cleared a ball off the goal line.

That almost proved large, as Lehigh had a flurry of five shots in just over 11 minutes (between the 66th and 77th minutes) looking to pull even. Included was a Corinne Lyght shot off the crossbar and two saves from Hall.

In the 79th minute, freshman Abby Trainor made a big save on an initial penalty kick, then stopped the rebound, but couldn't save the third attempt as the Bison went up 2-0.

The Mountain Hawks wouldn't go away quietly, though, tallying five of the game's last six shots. Hall made two more saves in that sequence, including on an Alex Odle shot that, like Supp's chance in the first half, looked ticketed for the top corner.

Final shots were 22-18 in favor of Bucknell while the Bison held an 8-7 edge in corner kicks. Both Trainor and Hall made seven saves in goal.

"We had seven seniors here today and all of them contributed – from Bridget and Abby being positive role models on the sideline to Syd bringing unbelievable energy and giving us two good shifts at the end of the first half and end of the game," said Lambinus. "Erin and Meg were awesome in the back, just rock stars. Court, I thought had the best game of her career today. She was all over the midfield; she was great. Bec was dangerous throughout the game. Our seniors did awesome.

"These are two games (the last two vs. Bucknell) I know we lost, but I felt like we played as well as we could play. The only thing is we just didn't finish."

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Gallery: (11-1-2021) Women's Soccer at Bucknell, PL Quarterfinals