BOSTON - Senior Sabrina Mertz scored the game-winning goal off a corner kick with just 40 seconds remaining, breaking a 1-1 tie and giving the Lehigh women's soccer team its third straight thrilling victory, 2-1 over Colgate in the Patriot League Semifinals on Friday night.  With the win, the Mountain Hawks advance to Sunday's Patriot League Championship Game, their first title-game appearance since 2010 and third in school history. Lehigh becomes the first team in league history that played in the quarterfinals to advance to the championship game, and the first team that wasn't a No. 1 or 2 seed to reach the finals since 2011.
 
"It was a great ball in by Clare (Severe)," said Mertz. "She hit it perfectly, and luckily I was able to get on the other end of it with my head. Everyone on our team was fighting the whole time, so it was awesome to get it at the end."
Lehigh has now won three road games in the span of eight days, all by 2-1 finals and all via game-winning goals late in regulation or overtime. It started last Friday when the Mountain Hawks won at Holy Cross in a must-win regular season finale, behind a Sidonie Warnecker 85th minute goal. Then on Tuesday, junior Kayla Arestivo scored with just two seconds remaining in double overtime at Bucknell, setting the stage for Mertz's dramatics on Friday.
 
"Sabrina's goal was honestly a result of us really working hard and getting the ball down deeper," said Lehigh head coach Eric Lambinus. "We got an even better chance less than two minutes before when their goalie made a really good save on Sabrina, so we just got a lot of momentum, were putting them under pressure and weren't sitting back. All the years that we've seen Sabrina, we've seen her grow up and the one thing I can say about her is she's clutch, she's going to 'give it' and she showed it tonight. Scoring a goal in the 90th minute of a semifinal game, that's a pretty impressive feat."

The Raiders came out of halftime with the first four shots, with the fourth finding the back of the net from close range as Colgate pulled even at one in the 60th minute.

 
Colgate continued to charge for the ensuing minutes, but the Mountain Hawks were resilient. Despite playing its third road game in eight days, Lehigh made a charge in the final 10 minutes. Mertz had a glittering chance in the 88th minute, but Raiders' goalkeeper Kelly Chiavaro made an impressive save. Less than two minutes later, Chiavaro couldn't stop Mertz's header, which sent thee Mountain Hawks to Sunday's title game.
 
"Our team has a lot of resiliency," said Lambinus. "We pride ourselves on being tough, on working hard, on being together, cohesive and purposeful. They've done all that really well, and they've found what works for them, which is continuing to work hard and good things will happen.
 
"There's belief in them. I was really proud of how they turned around the momentum in the second half. We were down a little bit and we gave up a goal, but they just kept working, kept believing and good things happened. I'm really proud of their effort."
 
Final shots were 15-8 in favor of Colgate while the Raiders held a 5-3 edge in corner kicks. Miller finished with seven saves while Chiavaro made one for Colgate.
 
The Mountain Hawk will return to action in less than 48 hours as they play top-seeded Boston University in the Patriot League Championship Game on Sunday at 2 p.m. on the Patriot League Network and Stadium's Over-The-Air channels. With a win, the Mountain Hawks would become the lowest-ever seed to win the Patriot League Tournament Championship.
 
"We know what [Boston University] is going to bring. We know they're going to be a little bit fresher than we are, so it's going to be a fight and it's on their home field," said Lambinus. "They haven't lost a league game here in a long time, so we want to see what we can give. We need to make sure we take care of the next two days and then get a good game plan together for Sunday."
 
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