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Valiant Lehigh effort falls short in NCAA First Round loss at Virginia

Posted: 11/12/2010
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The Lehigh women’s soccer team held eighth nationally ranked Virginia scoreless until midway through the second half, but the Cavaliers responded with three goals in less than 10 minutes to hand the Mountain Hawks a 3-0 loss in an NCAA First Round game on Friday. It marked the first-ever NCAA Tournament game for Lehigh, who finishes its most successful season in program history with an 11-5-4 record.

“You couldn’t ask for anything more,” said head coach Eric Lambinus, who led the Mountain Hawks to their first Patriot League Championship in only his first season. “We played against an unbelievable team with great ability. We hung with them for a very long time and actually had a chance to pull it out at the end.”

Lehigh hung neck-and-neck with the Cavaliers (14-4-2), keeping an offense which had scored 51 goals in 19 games this season off the scoreboard until deep into the second half. In the process, the Mountain Hawks extended their shutout streak to 340:18 before Virginia broke the scoreless deadlock.

“We played them really well in the first half,” said Lambinus. “We held them out and defended pretty strongly. We defended up the field and limited their opportunities to a bunch of crosses and shots from distance.

“[Virginia is] a good team,” he continued. “You see the size difference they have on us, their speed and their ability. Our girls gave it everything they got. We believed in each other. We knew if we held them for a while, we’d get some chances.”
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Virginia controlled the opening minutes, but Lehigh wouldn’t give in. The Mountain Hawks did get more sustained pressure just over 10 minutes into the content, which included a blocked shot from junior Jana Basubas.

The Cavaliers continued to pressure and nearly took a 1-0 lead at 38:07 when Kika Toulouse’s shot off a corner kicked looked ticketed for the back of the net. Junior Genna Pepe was there for the save, however, as she headed the ball out of harm’s way.

Senior goalkeeper Lauren Mains was stellar in the early going, playing an aggressive style in net. She continued her strong play into the second half, making a diving stop of an initial shot before also denying Erica Hollenberg’s rebound attempt to keep the game scoreless at the 48:48 mark.

It looked like Lehigh got the chance it was looking for when freshman Murphee Greeley found herself all alone in the left side of the box. Her shot went just wide left, though, keeping the score at 0-0.

“We countered really well in the second half and had that great chance,” said Lambinus. “I thought it was probably one of the better chances of the game up until that point.”

Virginia took advantage just over a minute later, as Maggie Kistner headed a corner kick opportunity past Mains to make it 1-0 at 66:28.

The Cavaliers added to their lead on a nifty score less than three minutes later when Gloria Douglas redirected a cross from Amanda Fancher just inside the left post to make it 2-0. Julia Roberts added Virginia’s third goal at 76:07 to round out the scoring.

“Their goals - on the corner and the second one on the cross as well - there’s not much we can do about that,” said Lambinus. “We gave them our best effort.”

Despite trailing, the Mountain Hawks wouldn’t quit and nearly got on the board at 87:08. Junior Ali MacLeod unleashed a point blank opportunity in the box, but Virginia goalkeeper Chantel Jones made a sensational save to maintain the 3-0 final.

Final shots were 20-3 in favor of Virginia while the Cavaliers led in corner kicks, 8-1. Mains finished with five saves while Jones made two.

“This season was unbelievable; the girls played phenomenally all year,” said Lambinus. “They really created an identity and a tradition for Lehigh women’s soccer. This is the standard now - making the playoffs, competing for championships and getting the opportunity to play in games like this.

“I’m really proud,” he continued. “The six seniors were unbelievable; they led us all year. They should be very proud of the four years they put in here. Hopefully, we can continue [the success] into the future.”