Army Women’s Soccer, Lehigh Compete to 3-3 Draw

BETHLEHEM, PA. – The Army West Point women’s soccer team earned a hard-fought point on the road after battling Lehigh to a 3-3 result on Saturday evening.

After trailing 2-0 early on, the Cadets put together an impressive three-goal showing in the second half to force the eventual draw.

The Mountain Hawks were aggressive immediately following the whistle, putting up a pair of goals within the opening 10 minutes. Elizabeth Oberhaus was first to respond to the early push and tested Lehigh’s keeper, but her shot was denied.

The Black Knights’ back line settled in and limited the home team to just three looks for the remainder of the half. Army went on to earn a 7-5 advantage in first-half shots, but went into halftime down 2-0.

After the break, the Cadets continued to apply pressure to Lehigh’s defense, taking a pair of shots within the first five minutes of the second half. Following a few unsuccessful attempts, the team finally found the back of the net in the 71st minute when Abby Doyle netted her first career goal off a corner kick from Dara Murray.

Doyle’s shot kicked off a scoring spree that saw four total goals put up within a seven-minute span. Izzy Fontana was the first to join Doyle on the action, as she recorded the equalizer when she made a run on a ball from Jasmine Talley. The Mountain Hawks were able to re-distance themselves from the visiting team with a header before Alyssa Carfagno capped off the spurt with her first goal of the season. Carfagno’s shot, assisted by Dani Mendoza, knotted the score back up at 3-3.

Both sides tried to regain the lead as the clock wound down, but the game was eventually forced into overtime when neither team could convert.

The Cadets controlled the first overtime period, with both Kaelan Bradley and Fontana firing off shots on-frame. Despite the pair of chances, the game was forced into a second overtime period, marking the team’s second game this year that’s been played past the 100-minute mark.

Things were split more evenly in the second overtime period, as Army was the first to get a shot off but this time the Mountain Hawks responded by earning three-straight corner kicks. Each side continued to have chances down the stretch, but neither side was able to pull away before the clock wound down.

“Can’t express how proud we are of our team and how they turned the game around from the start of the second half through both overtimes,” head coach Tracy Chao said. “Our adjustments that we made and how it was executed starting from our mentality to our quality inside the match was awesome. We put away three fantastic goals and created some real great opportunities. Again, getting points on the road is tough so I’m proud of this squad. We will rest, recover and focus on Holy Cross.”

Army will continue its conference slate with a game on the road at Holy Cross on Wednesday, Sept. 22. Kick-off between the Crusaders and the Black Knights is scheduled for 6 p.m. at the Linda Johnson Smith Soccer Center.