BETHLEHEM, Pa. – The fourth-seeded Lehigh men’s soccer team punched its ticket to the Patriot League semifinals after capturing a 2-0 victory over defending champion and No. 5 seed Bucknell on a rainy Tuesday night at the Ulrich Sports Complex. Sophomore keeper Joe Bogan made a career-high 13 saves as Lehigh secured its ninth shutout of the season, while freshman Mark Forrest and sophomore Doyle Tuvesson scored Lehigh’s goals. The Mountain Hawks will now travel to top-seeded Colgate at 4 p.m. Friday for the Patriot League Semifinals.

 

“Getting a win in the first round of the Patriot League Tournament is huge,” said head coach Dean Koski. “We tried to keep them off the board and we were successful there thanks to some great goalkeeping and defensive play. If you find two goals and don’t give up any, you’re going to win games.”

 

“This is huge for us,” said Bogan. “We showed up today and we’re really looking forward to Colgate. Last year we lost to Bucknell in this exact same game, so we’re so excited to keep playing this season.”

 

Lehigh improves its record to 11-5-3 overall with the quarterfinal victory, while Bucknell’s season ends at 7-7-5. The win also marks the first time Lehigh has won a postseason game in regulation, without needing penalty kicks, since 2003.

 

Bucknell’s Sebastiaan Blickman fired the game’s first shot in the second minute, but sent it right into the hands of Bogan. An attempt from freshman Alex Greene got Lehigh’s first shot on the board in the tenth minute before the Bison had a good opportunity three minutes later when a free kick just outside the box skirted wide.

 

The Mountain Hawks were able to get on the board shortly thereafter when Forrest headed in his ninth goal of the season off a Luchini corner kick in the 16th minute to give Lehigh a 1-0 lead.

 

Bogan made four big saves over the next ten minutes. Lehigh nearly found an insurance goal in the 30th minute when Luchini sent a pristine cross through the box, but three Mountain Hawks weren’t able to connect and send it into the back of the net. Lehigh withstood a barrage of shots and corners from Bucknell in the final few minutes, with Bogan making two more stops to bring his first-half total to seven, as the Mountain Hawks carried a 1-0 lead into halftime.

 

Lehigh found an insurance goal less than three minutes into the second half when Tuvesson stood about 25 yards out of goal on the left hand side of the field and perfectly bent the ball into the upper right hand corner of the net past the jumping keeper.

 

The Bison put heavy pressure on Lehigh the rest of the way, firing off 15 shots and four corner kicks during the remainder of the game. Bogan made six big saves with the defense also stepping up to block multiple attempts as the Mountain Hawks secured their ticket to the semifinals and the team’s ninth shutout of the season.

 

Final shots stood 25-13 in favor of Bucknell, while the Bison also held a 7-4 corner kick advantage. Bucknell keeper Clarke Fox finished with four saves.

 

Lehigh will travel to top-seeded Colgate at 4 p.m. Friday for the Patriot League Semifinals. The winner will advance to Sunday’s championship contest against the victor of No. 2 Boston University/No. 3 American. Free video will be available on the Patriot League Network.

 

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