BETHLEHEM, Pa. - Lehigh and Holy Cross played neck-and-neck for much of the game, but neither could find the back of the net in a scoreless draw on Saturday. With the tie, the Mountain Hawks move to 4-2-2 on the season and 0-0-1 in Patriot League play. Senior Ani Nahapetian made three saves in goal for Lehigh.
 
"I almost think we were a little too hyped before the game," said Lehigh head coach Eric Lambinus. "We had a lot of energy in the locker room, a lot of energy coming in and it's almost like we used up that energy. I think we came out flat. I don't think we came out with the same type of energy like we did in other games. We started to play ourselves back into it, but there's a learning process. The team was really excited about the first Patriot League game, but I think it backfired a little bit."
 
After each team fired a shot in the opening ten minutes, Holy Cross tallied the first shot on goal at the 10:35 mark, but Nahapetian was there to make the stop. In the 23rd minute, sophomore Adrian Vitello fired Lehigh's first shot on goal, but Holy Cross goalie Brooke Holle made the save.
 
One of Lehigh's best chances came in the 25th minute when freshman Clare Severe corralled a turnover several yards outside the box, made a move to get herself into good shooting position, then fired a hard, low shot which was stopped by Holle.
 
Holy Cross had a glittering opportunity as the first half came to a close as Kara Shaw was sprung in towards goal on the left side. Junior defender Laura Courtney recovered well to force a tough-angle shot, which Nahapetian saved to keep the score 0-0 at the half.
 
The second half featured just eight combined shots between the two teams, five from Holy Cross and three from Lehigh. The only two shots on goal were by Mountain Hawks, sophomore Amanda Stratton in the 55th minute and junior Laura Courtney in the 72nd minute.
 
In the 76th minute, it appeared as if Lehigh would take a 1-0 lead when senior Paige Elliott found herself in all alone on goal. She fired the ball past Holle, but the play was whistled for offsides.
 
The two overtime periods featured just one shot between the two sides, none on goal, as the game ended in a 0-0 draw.
 
"I honestly don't think we deserved to win this game," said Lambinus. "I thought we played well, I thought we played hard, but we didn't deserve to win it. Maybe it lets us know we have to do more if we want to be more successful. I don't know if we reacted very well in training this week, so we have to come back and be better every single day. Maybe this is a good thing for us to realize we need to continue to work. We're not there yet at all, so we need to continue getting better in order to start winning these games."
 
Final shots were 11-10 in favor of the Mountain Hawks while Lehigh held a 5-2 edge in corner kicks. Nahapetian's three saves came across Brooke Holle who made four.
 
The Mountain Hawks will have one week off before returning to action next Saturday (Sept. 26) when they host Colgate at 7 p.m.

Like Lehigh Women's Soccer on Facebook and follow on Twitter for continued updates on the Mountain Hawks.