Lehigh drops 3-0 decision to Stony Brook
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Despite tallying a season-high 25 shots and nine shots on goal, the Lehigh men’s soccer team dropped a 3-0 decision to Stony Brook Tuesday night at the Ulrich Sports Complex.
“It looked like the team was already looking ahead to Army tonight,” said head coach Dean Koski. “I don’t think our hearts or minds were in this game and it’s disappointing. We didn’t want to look beyond this game. I really thought it would be a good tune-up to prepare for Army.”
The Mountain Hawks began the game with momentum as they pressured Stony Brook’s defense with a corner kick and shot on goal within the first three minutes of the game. Stony Brook answered quickly in the eighth minute when a ball from Keith McKenna found the foot of Martin Giordano who put the ball in the upper right hand corner of net past the reach of Lehigh freshman keeper Jacob Gottwald. The teams traded shots throughout the remainder of the half until Lehigh picked up speed and rifled off five shots in the final ten minutes of the half. All opportunities were thwarted by the Seawolves’ defense and keeper Carlos Villa as Lehigh entered halftime with a 12-6 shot advantage but down 1-0 on the scoreboard.
Lehigh picked up where it left off in the second half, as junior Ali Famili and freshman Gianfranco Giammatteo each had scoring chances within the first three minutes. Stony Brook retaliated with an insurance goal in the 56th minute as the duo of McKenna and Giordano struck again, this time with McKenna netting the goal. The Seawolves struck again 14 minutes later when a free kick just outside the 18-yard box was put into the back of the net by Alejandro Fritz.
Lehigh had another good scoring chance in the 74th minute when senior Ben Borin knocked a ball of the post before junior Brian Suchoski rebounded the ball just wide. A Stony Brook foul in the box led to a Lehigh penalty kick in the 79th minute, but Villa dove to his left to save senior James Meyerkord’s shot and preserve his shutout.
Lehigh held a 25-10 shot advantage and a 7-1 corner kick advantage. Suchoski led the way with six shots, three of which were on goal.
“The number of shots is a very small consolation for not getting results,” said Koski. “We still need results and we still need to win.”
Next up for the Mountain Hawks is a tough road trip to visit first and second place Army and Navy. Lehigh heads to West Point on Saturday for a 7 p.m. game and travels to Annapolis on Wednesday, Oct. 22.
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