WORCESTER, Mass. – The Holy Cross men’s soccer team was outscored 2-0 in the second half, falling to Patriot League foe Lehigh by a score of 4-1 at the Linda Johnson Smith Soccer stadium. With the loss, the Crusaders combine for a record of 1-11-2 (0-4-0 Patriot League) while the Mountain Hawks move to 7-2-5 (3-1-1 PL). Junior captain Pat McCann (Rockville Centre, N.Y.) tallied the Crusaders’ lone goal on the day, his second of the season.

The teams played a physical first half, with Lehigh mounting two goals to Holy Cross’ one score. The Mountain Hawks scored the first goal at 36:41, scoring on the first shot taken from a free kick. Lehigh then took a 2-0 lead at 41:52 before McCann scored the third goal at 43:19, mirroring Lehigh’s free kick goal. At the end of the first 45 minutes of play, Lehigh held an 8-4 shots advantage. Junior goalkeeper Evan Polanik (Holliston, Mass.) made two saves in the half as well.

The Crusaders and Mountain Hawks combined for six shots in the second half, but Lehigh held the offensive advantage, scoring two more times at 47:35 and then again at 82:35. Senior Neal Melchionni recorded both goals while Crusader sophomore Joshua Cintas (San Diego, Calif.) posted two shots on-goal, but no scores. With the final two goals, Holy Cross fell by the final 4-1 tally.

With the final, Polanik picks up the loss, going to 0-6-0 on the season. He finished with three saves. Lehigh goalkeeper, Ciaran Nugent, finished the game with four saves and collects a record of7-2-5. The Mountain Hawks totaled 12 shots while the Crusaders had six total shooting opportunities.

Holy Cross returns wraps up the non-conference portion of its schedule on Tuesday, Oct. 25 against Brown. The Crusaders and Bears will face off at7:00 p.m.on the Linda Johnson Smith Soccer Stadium inWorcester,Mass.

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