Women's Soccer: Hoy’s strike tops Lehigh

Hoy’s goal came in the 86th minute on a long lead pass from sophomore midfielder Rachel Sheehy. Hoy sprinted past 2 defenders to beat Lehigh goalkeeper Lauren Mains to the ball, and sent it past the oncoming keeper into the back of the net.

The goal came after a period of consistent attacks from the Princeton side. Senior defender Lauren Whatley headed the ball just wide of the goal a few minutes before, but Mains knocked it out of bounds with a diving save.

The Tigers were not able to capitalize on the ensuing corner kick, but won another after a Lehigh defender sent the cross across the end line.

The first half featured few scoring chances for either side as the women battled for possession in the midfield, but the Tigers picked up their attack near the end of the period. At halftime, the Tigers had recorded three shots on goal to Lehigh’s one. The Tigers seemed to gain confidence as the minutes ticked by and created more chances in the second half.

Coach Julie Shackford pointed to the addition of two attackers in the second half as part of the reason for the additional spark.

“We were able to get into more of a rhythm and create some chances,” Shackford said. “A sign of a good team is being able to capitalize on those chances.”

Princeton controlled the ball during the second half and notched seven shots. Hoy and sophomore forward Caitlin Blosser worked together to create chances for the Tigers’ offense. Ten minutes into the second half, Blosser and Hoy connected on a give and go at the top of the box and Hoy broke through the defense for a solid strike but was called offside.

Despite the additional intensity, the Tigers could not find the back of the net.

“I don’t think we panicked at all,” Sheehy said. “We stuck to our game plan. Especially in the second half, we had great possession.”

Hoy led the team with four shots, but she also contributed on the defensive end. After losing a ball to a defender, Hoy chased her to midfield and won the ball back for Princeton.

Sheehy was awarded Player of the Match and was seemingly everywhere. She raced through the midfield, tracking down Lehigh’s attackers and then turning around to send quick balls through the channels to Hoy and Blosser up top.

Lehigh threatened late in the game with a few close chances. The Mountain Hawks best chance came on a cross from Paige Dyrek, who found forward Liz Carlos in front of the goal for a header. Carlos’ header was off the mark, flying a few feet over the crossbar.

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Sophomore goalkeeper Kristin Watson recorded her fifth shutout of the year. Much of the credit for the clean sheet goes to the Tigers’ defense, which allowed only one shot on goal. The Mountain Hawks committed nine fouls while the Tigers recorded only two. The referee was determined to let the teams play, and the small but loud crowd often disagreed with the lack of fouls called.

Sheehy said the game was similar to others in terms of physicality.

“I think it’s good preparation for the physicality in the Ivy League,” she said.

Both Shackford and Sheehy said they were happy with the all-around effort on Wednesday night.

“It was a solid team victory,” Sheehy said.

Shackford said the close win is encouraging as the Tigers head into their final four games of the season, all of which are against Ivy League opponents. They head to New York on Saturday to play Columbia, which is currently second in the Ivy League behind Princeton.