PHILADELPHIA, Pa. – The Mountain Hawks capped off their three-game road trip with a dominate 3-0 victory at Penn on Thursday evening. Senior Doyle Tuvesson led the way for Lehigh with six points on the night with a goal and two assists.

“This was an outstanding performance by Doyle and by far his best game this season,” said head coach Dean Koski. “He had some good moments leading up to this game, but tonight it all came together for him. His touch was excellent and his execution in the final third was clinical.”

The two sides had a feeling out period through the early part of the first half. The Mountain Hawks (3-2-0) had a few set piece opportunities early on, but were denied by the Quakers (0-4-0). LU kept the score even after a key save by Will Smith in the 19th minute following a solid strike by Sam Wancowicz from 18 yards out.

Lehigh established a 5-1 shot advantage midway through the first half and started to gain some momentum. LU’s worked paid off in the 40th minute when Tuvesson maneuvered up the left side and sent a lofted cross to the middle from the end line. Jack Miskel found a soft spot on the back side and was able to run on to the cross. Miskel connected on the pass with a header that slipped inside the back post to put Lehigh up 1-0 on his first tally of the season.

Lehigh had the field tilted in its favor heading into halftime with the 1-0 lead. The Mountain Hawks owned a 7-2 shot advantage while Penn owned a 4-1 advantage is saves.

“Our goal was to win the first half. We did a really good job tonight of competing from the opening whistle and not falling back on our heels,” said Koski. “We had a great goal by Jack Miskel to end the first half and I think that really fired up our guys. They came out very committed in the second half and we put together a complete performance on both ends of the field tonight.”

The Mountain Hawks picked up right where they left off to start the second half when they got back on the board in the 47th minute. Mark Forrest trapped a loose ball in the middle and one-touched a pass to Tuvesson who was able to run on to the ball. Between two defenders, Tuvesson unleashed a low strike to the left corner from 18 yards out to for his first tally of the season and put Lehigh ahead 2-0.

Shortly after Tuvesson’s tally, Lehigh nearly tacked on another as Alex Greene had a look from well inside the 18 after a feed from Tuvesson from the right. Sliding to his right, Penn’s Scott Forbes managed to snare Greene’s quick strike.

Feeling the momentum, Tuvesson put another solid strong on frame from the top of the 18-yard line in the 54th minute, but Forbes was again up to the task as he denied Tuvesson of his second tally of the game.

After being denied on two quality chances four minutes apart, Lehigh finally broke through for a third time. Tuvesson pulled up on the right side a few yards inside 18-yard line and found Forrest trailing on the play. Not breaking stride, Forrest managed to put a quality strike on the ball and finished high inside the left post.

The Lehigh defensive unit stood tall down the stretch as the backline did a stellar job of marking the opposition and disrupting Penn passes through the zone. Smith was also up to the challenge when he was tested as he made key saves in the 75th and 79th minutes to earn his first clean sheet of the season.

Lehigh out-shot Penn 5-2 in the second half and held a 12-4 advantage for the game. The Mountain Hawks held the Quakers scoreless for the third time this season.

Coming off their three-game road trip, the Mountain Hawks compiled a record of 2-1 and are in good standing as they return home to prepare for the heart of their schedule.

“Going on the road early really helps bring a team to together. It is fair to say we are satisfied coming out of the road trip with a winning record and this was a good spring board as we head into the thick of our schedule,” said Koski.

The Mountain Hawks return home Tuesday to face Seton Hall in a non-league match starting at 6 p.m. Lehigh remains home and opens up its league slate on Saturday, Sept. 23 against Army West Point at 7 p.m.

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