BETHLEHEM, Pa. – The Lehigh men’s soccer team battled for a 1-0 win over Cornell Monday evening at the Ulrich Sports Complex. An own goal in the 50th minute was coupled with a strong defensive effort as the Mountain Hawks secured their third shutout of the season. Lehigh moves to 3-1 on the season while Cornell falls to 0-2.

“It was a tough game to watch,” said head coach Dean Koski. “There were times that we did a really nice job with the ball movement and creating opportunities, but in the second half we got too casual in the final third. I thought all of our backs and mids were solid today, but we shouldn’t have to spend that much time defending in the final half.”

The Mountain Hawks got the first scoring chance of the evening in in the fourth minute when senior Brian Vail got his head on a free kick from classmate Jamie Luchini, but Cornell keeper Rhys Moller was there to make the stop. A minute later, sophomore Jack Miskel got a good look, but fired the ball right into Moller’s hands.

Cornell got off its first shot of the game in the ninth minute, but the Lehigh defense blocked the threat. The Mountain Hawks had plenty of opportunities throughout the rest of the first half with five shots and five corner kicks, but Lehigh was presented with its best chance of the half in the 38th minute. The Mountain Hawks were able to split the Big Red defense and get the ball to senior Ryan Bertrando who fired a shot on target, but Moller made the diving deflection to keep the game scoreless. Neither team was able to generate any other chances before the halftime buzzer rang and the game was sent to intermission at a 0-0 draw.

Lehigh fired off a flurry of shots to open the second half before an own goal in the 50th minute gave the Mountain Hawks a 1-0 lead. Luchini fired a shot from the left near corner of the six-yard box that caught the foot of junior Gianfranco Giammatteo before a Cornell defender deflected the ball in the net right at the goal line as Lehigh gained a 1-0 advantage.

Lehigh continued to pressure the Cornell defense, tallying six shots within the next 13 minutes, three of which were saved by Moller. The Big Red put together their most threatening possession of the game in the 78th minute when Cornell fired off two shots on goal from a corner kick, but sophomore keeper Joe Bogan was there to stop both.

Moller made four saves in the final ten minutes of the game to keep Lehigh from finding an insurance goal while Bogan made an important stop of his own in the final minute of the game to preserve his second straight shutout and propel the Mountain Hawks to a 1-0 win.

Final shots stood 23-12 in favor of Lehigh and the Mountain Hawks also held a 12-5 shot on goal advantage and 10-3 corner kick edge. Sophomore Doyle Tuvesson tallied a team-best seven shots, while Luchini followed with six. Bogan finished the contest with five saves, while Moller made 11 stops.

Next up, the Mountain Hawks will kick off a three-game road trip when Lehigh travels to Delaware on Sunday at 12 p.m.
 
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