BETHLEHEM, Pa. – The Lehigh men's soccer team wrapped up its pre Patriot League schedule on Saturday evening by playing Penn to a scoreless draw at the Ulrich Sports Complex. With the tie, the Mountain Hawks move to 3-3-1 ahead of next Saturday's Patriot League opener at Army West Point. Mountain Hawks junior goalkeeper Will Smith finished with four saves for his fourth shutout of the season.
 
A nip-and-tuck first half saw Lehigh outshoot Penn, 8-4. The game's first shot nearly found the back of the net as freshman Michael Tahiru unleashed a laser in the fourth minute that looked ticketed for his first-career goal, but Quakers' goalkeeper Scott Forbes made the impressive stop.
 
Meanwhile, Smith made his first and only first-half save in the 17th minute while the only other shot on target by either side the rest of the half was by sophomore Trevor Koski in the 34th minute.
 
"I thought we did what we needed to do to create chances," head coach Dean Koski said. "Having said that, we still have to do better with our final product, but I thought the result was a fair result for both teams."
 
The game opened up early in the second half, with Lehigh posting a number of strong opportunities. In the 58th minute, freshman Josh Luchini took a long free kick from junior Zarin Tuten and headed the ball towards the top left corner of the goal, but Forbes made a strong stop.
 
About 10 minutes later, Dokho was sprung in towards goal and unleashed a low, lefty shot towards the right corner of the goal, but Forbes got a piece. The ball still trickled towards the goal line before a defender cleared.
 
Penn responded with three straight shots between the 72nd and 77th minutes, the final of which was stopped by Smith. Lehigh came back with four of the last six shots of regulation, but went to overtime scoreless for a second straight game.
 
The Mountain Hawks' defense did another great job keeping the opposing offense in check. Smith and Tuten are a big reason why that phase of the game has been so successful.
 
"Will and Z (Zarin) are doing a great job of leading back then," said Koski. "Tyler (Dressman) is coming into himself, Nolan (Coulter) is coming into himself and Stevo (Bednarsky), we know what he can bring.
 
"It's just a matter of becoming more comfortable with how we're playing and we want them to play and become more comfortable with our system. I think they're growing into what I need them to grow into."
 
The two overtimes saw just one shot on goal, by Penn in the 100th minute, but Smith stood tall.
 
Final shots were 17-13 in favor of Lehigh while the Mountain Hawks held an 11-3 edge in corner kicks, including 7-1 in the second half. Smith's four saves came across Forbes, who tallied six.
 
The Mountain Hawks will now prepare for their Patriot League opener against the Army Black Knights next Saturday, Sept. 22 at West Point kicking off at 7 p.m.
 
"I think we're in a good place right now," said Koski. "Our focus right now is recovery and rest; they need it. We have to set our sights now on Army. Army is a really good team, and they're our next most important challenge."
 
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