Posted: September 9, 2007
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Senior Melissa Montalvo tapped home a centering pass from freshman Stephanie DeLuca in the 95th minute to give Lehigh a 2-1 overtime victory over Big Ten member Michigan State, Sunday afternoon at the Ulrich Sports Complex. The Mountain Hawks bounced back after allowing an early goal to improve to 3-0 at home this season and 3-1 on the season.
Michigan State pressured the Lehigh defense early on and created several quality chances. The Spartans took the lead 13 minutes in as Maureen Pawlak fed Lauren Hill, who beat junior Julie Kafka for her first goal of the season.
The Mountain Hawks seemed to raise their level of play after going down 1-0, and tied the game in the 24th minute when sophomore Liz Carlos weaved her way past several Spartan defenders and placed a left footed shot to the bottom left corner of the net for her first career goal.
The game went into halftime tied at one, with Michigan State out shooting Lehigh 8-3 in the first 45 minutes. Kafka finished the half with two saves.
In the second half, neither team was able to break the deadlock, but each team had its chances. Freshman Lauren Mains made a pair of saves in the second stanza, to help send the game into overtime.
In the extra session, Lehigh manufactured the game winner when DeLuca took the ball wide of the 18-yard box and threaded a perfect pass along the goal line that Montalvo was able to re-direct at the back post for the game-winner.
“We were a little lethargic at the beginning, but made changes; Shannon Lockwood and Amy Mastromonaco gave us a huge lift in the midfield,” said Lehigh head coach Manny Oudin. “The midfield boost gave us some confidence, and we started to play; we realized that when we play like we’re capable of, we can do some very good things.”
For the game Michigan State out shot Lehigh 15-11 and held a 4-3 advantage in corner kicks.
The Mountain Hawks will return to the pitch on Friday night when they play host to Villanova. Game time is set for 5:30 p.m. The game will be broadcast online at Lehighsports.com with streaming video powered by Yahoo! Sports.
A replay of Sunday's game can be seen locally on Service Electric 2 Sports Monday afternoon at 3 p.m., and Fox College Sports will air the game nationally later this week (check local listings). In addition, fans can see a replay of the match any time on-demand at Lehighsports.com via the link above.