Patriot

Patriot League Finals Recap

Lehigh won their first NCAA tournament berth in today's game, Here's how it happened. 

Boston started the game with possession but turned it over with an aerial to their offensive half. The game had a little bit of back and forth before Tegan Poerio found the first shot of the day for Boston. The shot was saved by Maddie Kahn but resulted in a Boston corner as one of Lehigh's defenders hit over the back line. The sweep went wide, resulting in a turnover. Boston received another corner a few moments later, but the shot went off a defensive body and resulted in another Boston corner. This corner was slipped, but Kahn cleared the ball out to the side where a Lehigh defender was able to pick up the ball and send it to the other side of the field. Boston then returned to their circle again and picked up another corner. Kahn saved the initial shot and the rebound went out of bounds. Lehigh was able to get in their offensive 23rd for a bit, but nothing in their circle. Boston maintained most of the offensive pressure, but Kahn was being a hero in goal, stopping all of their attempts. Boston received another corner with 1:05 on the board.  Kahn saved the shot, and the rebound went wide. 

Boston restarted the game with another aerial deep into their offensive zone that was turned over to the Lehigh center back. Lehigh started this quarter with a high press, which resulted in a turnover from Boston's transferring. After a few turnovers, Lehigh had a shot go wide and the ball was back in Boston's possession. Caroline Kelly then had a close call in goal for Boston but was able to put her stick down to guide the ball back to a Boston defender. A few moments later, Lehigh had a backhanded shot that went right into  Kelly's glove and was cleared. Boston was able to get back to their offensive circle, but Kahn shut down their shot. In the 22nd minute, Lehigh picked up their first corner of the game. The initial shot was stopped by Boston's flyer, and Kelly saved the rebound that came after. Lehigh received a free hit going into the circle after the corner and was able to make two shots that were big saves for Kelly, and then a third shot that went wide and resulted in a turnover. For the rest of the quarter, the ball primarily stayed in the midfield with nothing coming from either of the team's circle entries. 

Lehigh started their possession with a back pass and a transfer that ended with them caught in the back corner. Luckily for them, a Boston player created a foul and they were able to get it a little more up the field before turning it over again. Boston got the first corner of the quarter, two minutes in. The shot was saved by Kahn's stick. After getting stuck in the midfield, Lehigh was able to get into their offensive circle and made some shots, which they ultimately got a corner for. The shot was stopped by the trail, but then hit her foot resulting in another corner. This one was stopped by a post player, and the ball quickly went all the way to the other side of the field. The teams then battled in the midfield until the 38th minute when Lehigh received a corner. Ellie McIntyre made a defensive save for Boston to stop the shot after it went passed the goalie. after a clean breakaway brought  Boston to their offensive half, they were able to pick up a corner. Despite a great slide in from a Boston tipper, the ball went wide. Just moments later, Martu Coulo worked her way through the circle and was able to find Casey Thompson to tip in the pass across the cage. In the 43rd minute, Boston received another corner. The initial shot was stopped by the flyer, and Kahn went down to make a save on the rebound to keep the score a 1-0 at the end of the quarter. 

Lehigh started the game with a back pass that was quickly turned over and turned into a Boston penalty corner. The shot was touched by the flyer and then by an offensive foot in the circle. In the 49th minute of the game, Sarah Bonthuis made a beautiful sweep from Lehigh's 23-year line which found Maddie Kandra inside the circle for the deflection into the goal. This tied the game up at 1-1. Lehigh then found their offensive presence and started to have more pressure in their circle. The Boston press switched to a tighter formation, pressing high with three forwards when in the defensive circle. The Terriers started making silly mistakes with turnovers over the sidelines and fouls. Boston was able to find their circle with 8 minutes left, but Kahn jumped up for a beautiful block to keep the ball away from the net. Since it went over the end line, it resulted in a Boston penalty corner. The shot to the far post ended went right into a Lehigh defender's stick and was sent out of play. Both teams spent some time in their circles in the middle of the quarter, but neither found anything. With a little over 3 minutes left on the board, Crowley ran down the baseline for Boston, but Kahn came out and saved the ball and the Lehigh defense made sure it did not roll in after the save went high. The high ball resulted in another Boston corner. The shot went over the end line. Lehigh then made it back over to their offensive side, trying to find something by hitting big balls into the circle. Instead, they found a green card, against Kiki Mes.  With 0:00 seconds left on the board, Lehigh was awarded a penalty corner right before the alarm was rung. The shot went right into the flyer's shin and another corner was awarded. The shot by Sarah Bonthuis missed its tipper, sending the game into overtime. 

Lehigh started the overtime period with possession. They were able to get the possession into their circle through a series of passes, but the ball went into a Boston stick. Brown took a shot for Lehigh 3 minutes in, but it went extremely wide. Boston then took a series of shots, with all three being saved by Maddie Kahn. The third shot was an amazing glove save by Kahn, that popped up and resulted in a Boston penalty corner. Kahn was able to save the shot that was sent straight into pads. Lehigh then picked up a corner with just over 3 minutes left in the period. The shot was saved by Kelly's stick, but a could by a defender caused another Lehigh penalty corner. This time the shot from Sydney White was tipped in by Guusje Hogendoorn for the Lehigh win.

Lehigh won the 2022 Patriot League championship 2-1 and will receive the Patriot League's NCAA tournament berth.