Lehigh drops 2-0 final to Navy

October 22, 2014

BETHLEHEM, Pa. - The Lehigh women's soccer team had its fair share of chances, but couldn't find the back of the net in a 2-0 loss to Navy on a damp Wednesday evening at the Ulrich Sports Complex. Junior Ani Nahapetian was strong in goal, stopping eight shots, but the Midshipmen scored off two corner kicks to account for the game's scoring. Freshman Grace Correll was a threat offensively all evening, posting a team-high four shots and three shots on goal.
 
"I thought we came out with pretty good energy and played the first 10-15 minutes really well," said Lehigh head coach Eric Lambinus. "We gave up a goal, but had a bunch of good chances which we didn't put away. I thought the last 30 minutes of the first half was not good. I thought we let the disappointment affect us too much. We had a little better energy in the second half and made the game a little bit hectic. There are things we can take out of tonight, but I'm definitely a little disappointed we didn't play with the same intensity throughout."
 
Correll had the game's first chance in the fourth minute, outrunning the defense and firing a low shot which Navy goalkeeper Dayton Wetherby stopped. Just minutes later, junior Paige Elliott slipped around midfield, but came back strongly to deflect a Morgan Dankanich shot, which Nahapetian caught to keep the game scoreless.
 
In the 15th minute, the Mountain Hawks created havoc in the box, but senior Darby Wiegand's chance with Wetherby out of the goal was blocked by a defender. About 10 minutes later, Navy made it 1-0 at the 24:54 mark as Lexi Ricketts headed home a chance off a corner kick.
 
Correll responded with another chance in the 32nd minute, making a move near the top of the box and firing a low shot, forcing Wetherby to move to her right for the save to keep her team in front. Nahapetian answered with a strong save of her own at 34:55 as one of her four first-half stops.
 
Lehigh had its chances in the second half, none bigger than a stretch beginning in the 67th minute when Correll fired a low shot that was stopped. Just over one minute later, Correll raced towards a ball that was played into the box, but Wetherby came out strongly to deflect the ball away before a shot could get off.
 
The Mids added insurance at the 74:57 mark as Lizzy Rullan scored on a scramble off a corner kick to make it 2-0. The Mountain Hawks fired two shots the rest of the way, but none found the back of the net, on the way to their first loss of the Patriot League season.
 
Final shots were 15-10 in favor of Navy while the Mids held a 5-2 edge in corner kicks. Nahapetian's eight saves came across Wetherby who made five.
 
Lehigh will look to get back on track when it travels to Colgate on Saturday to face the Raiders. Opening kickoff is set for 7 p.m.
 
"If we want to be a top team, we have to beat these types of teams," said Lambinus. "We have to score on them. Navy and Colgate are two of the top teams in the league. We can play with these teams, but in my opinion, that's just not good enough. We don't want a moral victory. We want to come out here and win the game. We have to take the game to them. Hopefully we can work on a couple things over the next couple games and take a really good mentality up there with an expectation to get three points."
 
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