Women’s soccer defeats Binghamton, continues shutout streak

The Lehigh women’s soccer team extended its winning streak to four games, and in the process increased its shutout streak to five games as well.

The Mountain Hawks defeated the Binghamton University Bearcats, 2-0, Friday night at the Ulrich Sports Complex. Much of the first half of the game — which was slow and scoreless — consisted of the teams trading possession back and forth. Going into halftime, Lehigh had six shots on goal and Binghamton had three.

“I think we came out the first half a little flustered and frustrated,” senior midfielder Madeline Walsh said. “We were only frustrated because what we usually do wasn’t working, and we were having a hard time adjusting during the game.”

The Mountain Hawks started quickly in the second half, scoring a goal three minutes after the break when Sabrina Mertz crossed it in to freshman Sidonie Warnecker, who put it in the back of the net for the first goal of her collegiate career.

Lehigh’s second goal came 26 minutes into the second half. Forward Grace Correll scored the goal — her third of the season — on an assist from Kayla Arestivo. The Bearcats had no response for either goal, and fell flat in the second half.

“The whole second half, I feel like we came out in the first five minutes and played a lot more aggressively, knocked the ball around and had more composure,” Correll said.

Coach Eric Lambinus had the team tweak their performance to suit its opponents’ scheme after the first half, a period of soccer which saw a plethora of fouls on both teams — The Mountain Hawks with six and the Bearcats with four — and a yellow card called on Correll.

“The second half was tremendous,” Lambinus said. “I thought the second half was a really good performance, it was definitely inspired. It was worked off our defense that we did a really good job at being in good positions so that when we win the ball we can counter from it in the right way.”

The energy throughout the stadium was electric. The students and parents in attendance started out docile in the first half, but once the Mountain Hawks raised their compete level in the second half, the crowd became louder, which may have been a factor in Lehigh’s continued dominant play.

“That was one of the better crowds that we’ve had on a Friday night,” Lambinus said. “They were loud and they were into it in the second half. I think we sparked them a little bit with our play, but they carried it through, which makes it a lot easier to play. It was great.”

But the Mountain Hawks do not have time to celebrate their victory. They return to action Sunday at 1 p.m. at Villanova, hoping to keep their five-game shutout streak and four-game winning streak alive.

“We need to be prepared physically and mentally to be able to play at our very best,” Lambinus said. “You know it’s going to be tiring to play in two days, but I think we rotated the players pretty well tonight. They’re going to be a tough, physical team. They’ve played some really good opponents, so they’re battle tested already. It’s going to be up to us to match that intensity, have that patient aggressiveness and not let the game get frantic.”