LEWISBURG, Pa. – The Lehigh men’s soccer team trailed Bucknell 1-0 for nearly 70 minutes Saturday night in Lewisburg, but the Mountain Hawks rallied to capture a 2-1 road win. Freshman Doyle Tuvesson scored an equalizer in the 73rd minute before a free kick from Jamie Luchini in the 89th minute secured a 2-1 victory. Lehigh moves 6-3 overall and 2-0 in the Patriot League for the first time since 2006. Bucknell falls to 5-6 overall and 1-1 in the Patriot League.

“We didn’t get off to a good start on the road and Bucknell’s early goal was a huge wake up call for us,” said head coach Dean Koski. “We decided to start playing the game and settled in a bit. I was certainly pleased with the ability to come back and find a goal, which resulted in added confidence for us. Doyle was our Man of the Match and played outstanding. We did a good job against a strong Bucknell side.”

Bucknell scored right out of the gate when Jesse Klug connected on a pass from Patrick Figgie to send a ball inside the left post in the fourth minute and take a 1-0 lead. The Bison continued to threaten and tallied four shots over the next nine minutes, but senior keeper Ciaran Nugent stepped up to save two while the others flew wide.

Lehigh got off its first shot in the 13th minute when junior Austin Decker sent a header on net, but Bucknell keeper Mike Lansing was there to make the save.  The Mountain Hawks continued to pick up momentum and blasted five shots within a five-minute period between the 33rd and 38th minutes, but none could find the back of the net as Bucknell took a 1-0 lead into halftime.

The second half opened with a pair of Bucknell shots in the 48th minute, one of which was blocked and one that flew wide. A Lehigh corner kick led to a shot on goal by freshman Jack Miskel in the 53rd minute, but Lansing was there to keep the Bison up 1-0. Neither team recorded a shot in the next 17 minutes until Tuvesson struck in the 73rd minute. The freshman made several crafty moves to split a group of five Bison defenders and send the ball into the lower left hand corner of the net to tie the game at one.

The Lehigh defense stood tall over the next few minutes as Bucknell had a few good opportunities. With less than two minutes to play, a foul on the Bison set up a Luchini free kick about 30 yards away from the Bucknell goal. The kick bounced perfectly through the Bison defenders and into the lower right hand corner of the net to put the Mountain Hawks up 2-1 with 1:34 on left on the clock. Lehigh held on to secure the win and move to 2-0 in league play.

Nugent finished with five big saves compared to Lansing’s three. Final shots were tied 13-13. Tuvesson, Decker and Luchini each tallied three shots to lead Lehigh.

The Mountain Hawks return to action Wednesday night at archrival Lafayette. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. and the game can be viewed for free on the Patriot League Network.

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