POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. - The Marist women's soccer team defeated Lehigh by a 2-1 score on Sunday afternoon in a non-conference matchup. Goals by freshman Amanda Epstein (Jericho, N.Y.) and junior Jackie Frey (Monroe, N.Y.) led the Red Foxes to victory over the defending Patriot League champion.
Unable to beat the Mountain Hawks in their last four matchups, the Red Foxes came out of the gates seeking to put an end to that streak. Less than two minutes in, the combination of sophomore Kylee McIntosh (Chesire, Conn.) and Epstein put Marist on the scoreboard. Finding space on the right wing, McIntosh was able to dribble in 25 yards from the midfield stripe before delivering a cross to the feet of Epstein, who took a few steps and fired in the shot from eight yards out.
Building off of the first goal, Marist continued to play their style of soccer and pressure Lehigh throughout the next 34 minutes. The end of this span culminated with the Red Foxes' second goal of the game at 35:20. Faced with a free kick opportunity near midfield junior goalkeeper Caitlin Landsman (Burke, Va.) left her net to line up behind the ball. With a strong right footed kick she lofted the ball into the box where a streaking Frey leapt up and flicked a header over Lehigh's goalkeeper.
Off of a turnover on the ensuing possession, the Red Foxes were back in the offensive zone. In back to back situations, sophomore Rycke Guiney (Naperville, Ill.) and junior Chelsea Botta (East Longmeadow, Mass.) nearly connected for goal number three. With Guiney lobbing in high corner kicks into the box, Botta outleapt multiple Lehigh defenders in both occasions, but unfortunately for Marist her header attempts were unable to find the back of the net.
Coming out in the second half down 2-0, Lehigh began mounting more sustained offensive possessions. In the 51st minute, off of a Genna Pepe corner kick Murphee Greeley took a shot from close in that Landsman was able to corral for her third save of the afternoon.
The Mountain Hawks continued keeping the ball down in Marist's defensive end and pressuring the new Red Fox goalkeeper Andrea Wicks (East Northport, N.Y.) in a 16 minute span from the 65th to 81st minute, Lehigh was able to get five shots off, including three on goal. The Mountain Hawks persistence paid off as that third shot on goal was deposited by Hannah Cochran at 80:55 into the upper left hand corner of the net off of a corner kick that Ali MacLeod laid off to her on the right side edge of the 18-yard box.
Wicks denied Lehigh's final attempt to tie the game with 1:48 remaining as she stopped Greeley, who had dribbled the ball into the box on a one-on-one and took a shot from 15 yards out.
For the game, Marist was outshot by Lehigh 9-7, as well as 7-4 with opportunities on goal.
Landsman recorded her first victory of 2011 as she made three saves in just under 59 minutes of action. Wicks also finished with three saves.
The Red Foxes' next game will be versus Cornell on Friday as they host the Big Red in the first round of the Marist Soccer Tournament at 7 p.m.
