Women’s soccer falls to Princeton 4-1

After playing a difficult double overtime game against Boston University on Saturday, the women’s soccer team lost to Princeton University by the score of 4-1 Wednesday evening.

“I thought tonight’s game against Princeton was just what our team needed, as ironic as that sounds,” senior Darby Wiegand said after the game. “We learned a lot from our play tonight, and we can now take the mistakes that we made and work off of them. Even though the outcome was less than desirable, it was a great opportunity for us to become a better team during such a pivotal point in our season.”

The first half of the soccer match did not seem to reflect how the women’s soccer team usually performs. Although the Mountain Hawks were able to push down the field in the attack a few times early on, the Tigers were the first to score. Princeton notched back-to-back goals as Lehigh tried to get a grip on the game.

Lauren Lazo of Princeton scored the first goal with an assist from Jesse McDonough at 6:20, and only a minute later, Tyler Lussi’s shot was blocked and fell right to the feet of Vanessa Gregiore who found the back of the net at 7:33, making the score 2-0 in favor of Princeton.

After the two goals were scored, it seemed as if Lehigh started to settle into the game, and they were able to generate some attack and put pressure on the Tigers. However, in the 23rd minute, Lazo once again crossed the ball into the box and found the head of Lussi, making the score 3-0.

The Hawks looked like a different team in the second half. They put more pressure on Princeton, made better touches and found seams throughout the Princeton defense. The Mountain Hawks scored in the 56th minute, as senior Darby Dustman found freshman Adrian Vitello to score their only goal of the night, which put them behind by only two.

Lehigh continued to play with enthusiasm and energy as the game progressed, but Princeton’s Mikaela Symanovich fired a shot in the 71st minute that hit the crossbar and bounced into the back of the Mountain Hawks net. That goal put the game out of reach at 4-1.

Mountain Hawks goalie Ashley Blanks tallied seven saves for the evening, while both of Princeton’s goalies made three saves each.

“This game reinforced areas that we need to work on,” junior Emily Korber said after the game. “We’re not discouraged, but we need to bounce back for Saturday and use this as an opportunity to get better.”

The Mountain Hawks will play another Patriot League game Saturday as they take on Loyola University Maryland in Baltimore at 7 p.m.