Bulldogs Fall 1-0 At Lehigh

September 4, 2011

BETHLEHEM, Pa. – The Yale men’s soccer team did a number of things right in its first road game of the season. Unfortunately for the Bulldogs, one lapse was all it took for it to end with a disappointing result. Joe Puleo scored the only goal of the game at 29:49 to lift Lehigh to a 1-0 victory over Yale on a muggy afternoon at the Ulrich Sports Complex.

The Mountain Hawks (1-1-1) had the better of the play in the first half, outshooting the Bulldogs 11-5.

Puleo’s goal came when he took a long chip pass from Kevin Struck, made a couple of moves and fired a shot that beat Yale goalkeeper Bobby Thalman.

The second half was a different story.

“We really stormed back and put them under a lot of pressure and created a lot of danger,” Yale head coach Brian Tompkins said.

Kevin Michalak and Nick Alers both had shots that were stopped. Brad Rose and Peter Jacobson also had opportunites. Yale applied some good pressure in the final minutes and had two corner kicks in the last 40 seconds but couldn’t capitalize.

“Overall I thought it was a strong road performance,” Tompkins said. “Hopefully we will learn from it and benefit from the experience.”

Thalman finished with nine saves for the Bulldogs. Lehigh goalkeeper Ciaran Nugent stopped five shots to post the shutout.

Yale is back in action on Friday, hosting Quinnipiac. Kickoff at Reese Stadium is slated for 7 p.m.