BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Lehigh men’s soccer freshman Mark Forrest scored three goals, while the Mountain Hawks defense secured its fifth shutout of the season in a 3-0 victory over Fordham on a rainy Tuesday night at the Ulrich Sports Complex. The Mountain Hawks improve to 5-3-1 with the victory, while Fordham falls to 2-4-3.

 

“It was nice to come off the weekend with a good result, score three goals and get a shutout,” said head coach Dean Koski. “We played well on both sides of the ball. I’m very happy with the team performance and I felt like they came out and showed up tonight on a rainy Tuesday night.”

 

Forrest scored in the 12th, 65th and 83rd minutes and has now notched four goals this season. Freshman Matt Morana and sophomore Doyle Tuvesson each tallied an assist.

 

“Whether he was a freshman or a senior, Mark did a great job tonight,” said Koski. “He finished very well today and I thought this was his best game of the year. It was great to see and I’m happy for him.”

 

Sophomore Jack Miskel fired the first shot of the game in the ninth minute, but it was blocked by the Fordham defense. Two minutes later, a streaking Forrest had a golden opportunity in a one-on-one situation with Rams keeper Rashid Nuhu and the freshman was able to chip the ball over Nuhu’s head towards an empty net, but the slick playing service carried it out of bounds before Forrest could put it in the back of the net.

 

Forrest was able to capitalize on his next chance in the 13th minute when took a cross from Morana and buried it into the lower right corner of the net to put the Mountain Hawks ahead 1-0. Lehigh sophomore keeper Joe Bogan was forced to make his only two saves of the opening half just 40 seconds apart in the 16th minute.

 

Lehigh continued to control possession, tallying four more shots in the rest of the first term. The Rams picked up pace towards the end of the half, scattering three shots and a corner kick in the final ten minutes, but Lehigh was able to carry a 1-0 lead into halftime.

 

The teams exchanged opportunities in the first 20 minutes of the second half, with Fordham firing two shots and Lehigh getting off one. Forrest added an insurance goal in the 65th minute when he caught Nuhu too far out of the goal and chipped one over his head and into the far right corner from 35 yards out to extend Lehigh’s lead to 2-0.

 

Forrest secured his hat trick in the 83rd minute when he took a ball from Tuvesson and sent it past Nuhu’s hands into the lower right-hand corner of the net to give the Mountain Hawks a 3-0 lead.

 

The Mountain Hawk defense took care of the rest, limiting the Rams to three shots for the remainder of the game as Lehigh secured its fifth shutout of the season.

 

Bogan finished the game with three saves and earned his fourth clean sheet of the season. Nuhu secured one save. The Mountain Hawks controlled a 12-11 shot advantage, while Fordham held a 9-1 corner kick edge.

 

The Mountain Hawks return to action Saturday at 7 p.m. when Lehigh hosts Colgate on homecoming Saturday at the Ulrich Sports Complex. The Summit Series game tickets will cost $5 for general admission and all Lehigh students, faculty and staff will receive free admission with a Lehigh ID.

 

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