BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Bucknell scored the game's only goal in the 46th minute to hand the Lehigh women's soccer team a 1-0 defeat on Wednesday evening. Lehigh finished with a 17-11 edge in shots while junior Sam Miller made three saves in goal. Despite the loss, the Mountain Hawks remain in a tie for sixth place in the Patriot League standings, with two regular season contests remaining.
 
"We played well enough and we created chances," said Lehigh head coach Eric Lambinus. "In the first 10 minutes, we got two really good looks at goal and didn't convert. That's the difference in the game."
 
The Mountain Hawks controlled most of the first half, holding a 10-3 edge in shots. Lehigh had one stretch of seven straight shots and 10-of-11, with three of the shots on goal. In the 19th minute, junior Maggie Wadsworth got past the Bucknell goalkeeper and made a touch towards the net, but defender Holly Burns made the team save, clearing the ball out of harm's way.
 
It took less than a minute into the second half for the Bison to break the ice as Carly Baggott made a feed from midfield into Bri Kropinack, who made a quick touch to Jenna Marek in the box. Marek got herself free and fired a shot into the top right corner of the goal.
 
Lehigh got the momentum back, tallying seven second-half shots and two on goal, both by senior Sabrina Mertz in the 64th minute and 71st minute. On the other end, Miller made a tremendous save in the 87th minute, coming out aggressively on Marek to keep Lehigh within 1-0. The offense couldn't capitalize, however, as the Bison wrapped up the 1-0 victory.
 
"They scored the way we knew they could score," said Lambinus. "You're going to give up goals in soccer. You can't create 17 chances and not finish. That's what I was disappointed in."
 
Final shots were 17-11 in favor of Lehigh while corner kicks were even at five. Theresa Adu-Attobrah made four saves for Bucknell across three for Miller.
 
"We had good energy in the first half," said Lambinus. "We wanted to push a little bit coming out in the second half and we didn't. We just came out flat."
 
Lehigh now hits the road for its final two games of the regular season, beginning this Saturday at Loyola. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.
 
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