Lions fall in home opener to Lehigh Carbon

Then Penn State Hazleton Womens Soccer team continued their season with an out of conference game against Lehigh Carbon Community College. The Lions fought hard but failed to top the Cougars, losing 6-4 on Tuesday at the Hazleton Campus.

The Lions came out with an early lead and controlled the tempo during the first half, running away for a 3-0 lead. Hazleton started their scoring with the first goal from Alexis Marrotto, followed by tallies from her teammates Ella Thuringer and Jasmine Bender to give the Lions the early advantage. Despite facing a hefty deficit, Lehigh Carbon battled back with scores in the 37th and 41st minutes, edging closer to Hazleton by the midway point.

Hazleton looked to get back in the driver's seat following a second score by Jasmine Bender just seven minutes into the final period. Hazleton's Kaycee Cadden issued Bender a fine pass, resulting in the score, but the momentum immediately shifted back in favor of the Cougars who went on to dominate the final 35 minutes of play. Lehigh Carbon scored their first, second-half goal just four minutes after the Hazleton's fourth and the Cougars were off and running, scoring four unawnsered goals in the final period. Hazleton had several opportunities to knot the score when trailing 5-4, but some excellent stops by the Cougar defense stymied the Lions chances of picking up the win. Lehigh Carbon tacked on an insurance goal in the final minutes of play to secure the 6-4 victory over Hazleton. 

The Women's Soccer team will travel to Penn State Brandywine for their next match. The game will be played on Tuesday, September 13th at 4:00 p.m. where Hazleton will try to secure their first win of 2024.