BETHLEHEM, Pa. — It was truly a magical night for the Lehigh men's soccer team on Saturday night, a decisive 3-1 victory over Holy Cross on Senior Night to clinch the second seed for the Patriot League Tournament.
 
The Mountain Hawks were extremely active on offense throughout the match, with eight shots in the first half and nine in the second for 17 total chances. Lehigh outshot Holy Cross 17-9 for the game. It was a long time since Lehigh found the back of the net, but on Saturday, three goals found their way in and the Mountain Hawks capitalized with a big victory.
 
"We really wanted to win to get second place so we get that bye," said head coach Dean Koski. "I'm happy and proud of the team for their effort, this is a tough league and it's tough to win.
 
"We know going into every season just getting into the top six is a battle so we're really pleased to be in the tournament."
 
All three of the goals were scored by senior Mark Forrest who recorded a hat-trick for the first time since Aug. 25, 2017 against Rider where he notched a goal on a penalty kick, a free kick and a wide open goal.
 
The first goal occurred in the 29th minute, a penalty kick after getting tripped up in the box. Forrest notched his second goal of the game in the 56th minute, a free kick that found the top left corner of the net and the third goal was from fellow senior Oscar Greene in the 67th minute. The hat-trick is Forrest's fourth of his career. With the goals, Forrest now has 41 career goals and 103 career points, putting him just four points shy and three goals shy of the Lehigh program record.
 
"Mark has been in a bit of dry spell but his habits are the same," said Koski. "He works hard in practice and he comes out in games and works hard and he knows the goals will eventually come if he keeps doing what he does.
 
"Players like Mark's caliber, you know it's not going to be too long keeping him off the board and I think it's really important for him to find the back of the net going into the playoffs just to get that scoring confidence and that scoring touch back so it's good for us and I'm happy for him."
 
This was also the most goals the Mountain Hawks have gathered since a Sept. 22 victory over Army in the Patriot League opener when Lehigh defeated the Black Knights, 3-1.
 
Forrest led the team in shots with 10, five of which were on goal. Sophomore Trevor Koski registered two shots, while Greene, freshman Nick Jennings, freshman Josh Luchini, sophomore Stevo Bednarsky and sophomore Blaise Milanekeach tallied a shot themselves.
 
Junior goalkeeper Will Smith made four saves allowing just the one goal, while senior Paul Steingraber made his first career appearance for Lehigh in the 87th minute, making one save.
 
Holy Cross' goal was scored by Simon Becher in the 36^th minute which at the time, was the equalizer for the Crusaders. The goal was assisted by Max Krause.
 
The victory over the Crusaders is the Mountain Hawks' first since 2014, after falling in the previous four matchups. The all-time series is now tied 13-13-6.
 
The win for Lehigh catapults them into the Patriot League semifinal against an opponent to be determined next Friday at Loyola.
 
The night was also highlighted by the seniors playing potentially their final game at the Ulrich Sports Complex and the reception from the fans and coaches was incredible, as Koski noted at the conclusion of the game.
 
"Oscar, Paul, Matt and Mark are all great guys, I know they don't want their season to end," Koski said. "I know that they're hungry to chase a championship. They had one their freshman year and they know what it takes to do that, but we know we have some tough opponents ahead of us.
 
"We'll take it one match at a time, but I can't you how proud I am of having them in our program and what they've meant to us the past four years and I would love to see them go out with a championship."


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