VILLANOVA, Pa. – Despite leading for most of the contest, Villanova battled to a 1-1 draw with Lehigh on Sunday afternoon at the Higgins Soccer Complex.
 
The draw marks the third all-time that Villanova (1-0-1) has faced in the series with Lehigh (1-0-1), moving the series record to 8-3-3 with a 6-2-1 advantage in games on the home pitch.
 
"I think 75 minutes, we played fantastic soccer," Villanova head coach Samar Azem said. "We moved the ball well. Lehigh did a really, really good job of making the central part of the field very compact, and that was a problem we hadn't seen in quite some time. After about the first 10 minutes, the players adjusted really well, and I thought we played some fantastic soccer for 75 minutes."
 
Villanova's goal came deep in the first half to break a scoreless stalemate that went into the 40^th minute. Myla McLeod grabbed onto a breakaway chance and sent a pass ahead to a dashing Alex Little who took control just at the top of the 18-yard box. The freshman was able to get past a Lehigh defender that was closely guarding her, sending a left-footed shot to the back left of the net for a 1-0 lead. The goal marked the first of Litte's career while also being the first assist for McLeod in her career.
 
"Myla played a fantastic ball into Alex. Alex showed what Alex does best," Azem said. "It's just exciting to see her and Thursday, Gabby, get her confidence and a bunch of the other freshman, whether they play or don't play, just really, really need to see them starting to gain a lot of their confidence and what they can do here."
 
Villanova went into the half holding its opponent scoreless for a second consecutive game. That goal was one of two shots to land on frame for the 'Cats in the opening half, making five shot attempts to Lehigh's six. Momentum stayed on the Blue and White side early in the second as a yellow card was shown to Lehigh's Ryelle Shuey in the 49^th minute. Jackie Richards had a chance to capitalize seconds after the booking, but her free kick attempt bent just left of the post.
 
The final 15 minutes of action saw Lehigh take over on a momentum swing on its own that culminated in a Mountain Hawk goal in the 81^st minute. Emma Roesing lined up for a corner kick that she sent sailing into the penalty box that found the head of Ryelle Shuey nearly six yards out. Her header went just above a leaping Payton Woodward and into the back of the net, leveling the contest 1-1.
 
"A team like Lehigh that's very well-coached and has a lot of heart to them, they took over the game at the 75^th minute," Azem said," and that's where we let them into the game. Credit to them; they did a fantastic job to push and to put pressure on us, and we didn't adjust very well."
 
Villanova edged Lehigh 19-13 in shots on the day with both sides landing five chances on frame.
 
It will be a week until Villanova is back in action, starting a five-game road stint with a trip to Temple next Sunday, August 20. Kickoff for that contest is set for 4 p.m. from the Temple Sports Complex in Philadelphia.