HAMILTON – Dom DeMarco scored her first career goal in the 83rd minute and Kelly Chiavaro recorded six saves to lift the Colgate women's soccer team to its fourth straight shutout with a 1-0 victory over Lehigh on Wednesday night in Patriot League action at Beyer-Small '76 Field.
 
Colgate enforced heavy pressure in the waning minutes of regulation and DeMarco provided the heroics with 7:54 left in regulation. The junior raced to a loose ball near the goal line on the left side, planted, and pocketed a high shot into the upper right corner for the game-winning goal. 
 
The only tally of the night came shortly after Ellis Miller uncorked a shot off the left post on a set piece from just outside the box. Her low shot made its way through several players in front and beat Lehigh keeper Miranda Royds to the left, but it ricocheted off the pipe and the Raiders had to regroup.
 
Chiavaro saved the only shot she faced in the second half and went unscathed late in the match en route to the shutout victory. Colgate held a 9-3 advantage in shots in the second half, including a 3-1 edge in shots on goal.
 
Lehigh looked poised to end the shutout streak early in the match with a couple scoring chances right out of the gate. Maggie Wadsworth fired a trio of shots on target in the first four minutes of the contest. Chiavaro turned aside all three shots, including a nice save to her left on a shot headed inside the right post at the 3:23 mark of the half. 
 
Colgate increased its offensive pressure later in the half with Mara Cosentino earning a pair of chances down the stretch. After a Lehigh foul just outside of the box, Cosentino released a shot through traffic that Royds snagged for her first save in the 33rd minute. One minute later, she created space on the left side and beamed a shot just wide of the left post.
 
Off a corner kick from Abby Sotomayor in the 39th minute, Hannah Pinkus found a clear lane at the top of the box and soared a shot just over the crossbar for one of the best scoring chances for the Raiders before the halftime horn went off with the score still 0-0.
 
Pinkus nearly put the Raiders ahead in the 65th minute after Lindsey Wiley spun a corner kick into the box. Pinkus redirected a quick header on net, but Royds dove and got her right hand on the shot to deflect it away. Five minutes later, Leah Lewis battled a scrum in front with a header just wide on a deep set piece from 30 yards out.
 
The Raiders continued to control the pace of the action until DeMarco netted the game-winner with less than eight minutes left in regulation. 
 
BOTTOM LINE
• Colgate 1, Lehigh 0.
 
RECORD UPDATES
• Colgate improved to 5-2-3 overall and remained unbeaten in league play at 2-0-1.
• Lehigh fell to 3-7-0 on the season and 0-3-0 in Patriot League action.

RAIDER LEADERS
• Miller led the Raiders with four shots.
• Pinkus, DeMarco, Cosentino, and Claire Micheletti had the four shots on goal.
• Chiavaro finished with six saves for her fifth shutout of the season.

BY THE NUMBERS
• Tonight marked the fourth consecutive shutout for Colgate.   
• The Raiders have not conceded a goal in 392 minutes, and have yet to allow a goal in league play.
• Colgate improved to 20-7-3 against Lehigh all-time.
• Shots finished 19-12 in favor of the Raiders.
• Lehigh held the advantage in shots on goal, 6-4.
• The Raiders earned five corner kicks and held the Mountain Hawks to just one.
 
FROM THE SOURCES
• Colgate head coach Kathy Brawn: It was a tough first half. Lehigh is an outstanding team and we knew that coming in. We knew we were going to face a lot of pressure, especially early on. We felt that if we could handle their pressure and respond by getting layers on the attack then something good would come out of it and eventually it paid off. This is definitely a win to be proud of and build off of as we prepare for American University on Sunday. 
 
• Colgate junior Dom DeMarco: We definitely had the momentum in the second half. We had several chances with a couple strong looks and one shot off the post. On the goal, I took the defender to the end line and I was going to cut it back and lay it off to the middle, but I saw she committed more to my left so I just took the shot and went to the far post. This was a great win for us tonight. American University is our next focus and just like every game we will definitely have to come out strong.
 
GATE GRAB BAG
• Attendance at Beyer-Small '76 Field was 213.  

UP NEXT 
• Colgate remains on its home pitch to take on American on Sunday.
• Kickoff from Beyer-Small '76 Field is 1 p.m.