BETHLEHEM, Pa. – The Lehigh men’s soccer team captured its first win over Lafayette in five years Thursday night when the Mountain Hawks blanked the Leopards 2-0 at the Ulrich Sports Complex. Freshman Mark Forrest scored a goal in each half, while sophomore keeper Joe Bogan made five saves to secure the clean sheet. Lehigh has now recorded eight shutouts this season.

 

“The most important thing for us was getting three points today,” said head coach Dean Koski. “Our guys came out with the right mentality and played very well defensively. Finding two goals in a league game can be very hard sometimes, so that was nice to see as well.”

 

The Mountain Hawks move to 10-5-1 overall and 4-3-0 in Patriot League play with its first win over Lafayette since 2010. Lehigh moves into fourth place in the league standings with 12 points and sits just four points out of first place. The Mountain Hawks have now secured back-to-back ten-plus win seasons for the first time since 2005-2006 after finishing the 2014 season with a 10-8-1 overall mark.

 

The first chance for either team came in the sixth minute when a Lafayette corner kick led to a shot from Nate Arronson that nearly trickled into the net, but a Lehigh defender stood at the goal line to keep it out of harm’s way. A shot from sophomore Doyle Tuvesson in the 16th minute was Lehigh’s first shot of the game, but Leopard keeper Brian Ehrlich was there to make the stop. Lafayette controlled possession for much of the opening 20 minutes until Lehigh began to pick up pace in the 27th minute with a corner kick and a pair of shots.

 

The Mountain Hawks were able to capitalize in the 32nd minute when a pass from freshman Alex Greene led to a scuffle around the net. Forrest was able to get his foot on the ball and send it through a bit of traffic into the lower right hand corner of the net to give Lehigh a 1-0 lead. The teams both took one more shot before the game was sent to halftime with the Mountain Hawks ahead 1-0.

 

A header from Forrest that Ehrlich was able to stop accounted for the first shot of the second half in the 50th minute. The teams traded shots and opportunities until a Lafayette yellow card led to a Lehigh free kick about 25 yards out in the center of the field. Forrest took the kick and sent it through the defensive wall and past the diving keeper into the lower right-hand corner of the net to put the Mountain Hawks ahead 2-0 in the 62nd minute.

 

Bogan and the defense took care of the rest, holding the Leopards to six shots the rest of the way, two of which were saved by Bogan. Lehigh walked away with a 2-0 win and its eighth shutout of the season as the buzzer rang.

 

Final shots were tied at 15-15, while Lafayette held a slim 4-3 corner kick edge. Ehrlich finished with six saves for the Leopards.

 

The Mountain Hawks return to action Saturday at 7 p.m. when Lehigh hosts defending champion Bucknell at the Ulrich Sports Complex. The program’s seven seniors will be honored at halftime on Senior Night and free video will be available on the Patriot League Network.

 

Like Lehigh men's soccer on Facebook and follow on Twitter for exclusive content and team updates.