Lehigh shuts out Manhattan, 1-0 in opener

August 30, 2019

BETHLEHEM, Pa. — Lehigh men's soccer started the 2019 season off with a bang, as the Mountain Hawks used a score in the 54th minute off the chest of Trevor Koski from a Nick Jennings free kick for the goal. The goal would stand as the game-winner as Lehigh picked up the season opening victory a 1-0 win over Manhattan Friday night at the Ulrich Sports Complex.

After a scoreless first half, despite leading the shots battle, 6-3, the Mountain Hawks put together a very aggressive second half, out-shooting the Jaspers 14-4 that included Koski's game winner halfway through the contest. The goal was Koski's second of his career and for the second consecutive season, Koski notched a score in the home opener.

LEHIGH GOAL! Trevor Koski is everywhere, this time scoring the goal off the free kick from Nick Jennings. Mountain Hawks take a 1-0 lead! Watch: https://t.co/7jRjNNurJY. #GoLehigh pic.twitter.com/3ujDqW1LPp
— Lehigh Men's Soccer (@LehighMSoccer) August 30, 2019

"Nick served a great ball to Trevor and all he had to do was get his body on it," said head coach Dean Koski. "I thought Trevor made a good decision to just put it in with his chest rather than worrying about using his head. Trevor certainly had a pretty good game, he's coming into himself and we hope he and Stevo (Bednarsky) continue to do a good job managing the midfield.

"But every player who stepped out onto the field contributed tonight and we're really happy about that."

Lehigh delivered eight shots on goal, three of which were from Koski, while three were off the foot of sophomore Josh Luchini and a SOG each from junior Stevo Bednarsky and Ikem Mbalewe.

The Mountain Hawks ended up out-shooting Manhattan 20-7 and the team really showcased its ability to come through with chances, even if it didn't result in more goals.

"This was a real positive for us, getting and having chances is easy to build on," said Koski. "But now we just need to get better with our final product and that by the time we get into Patriot League play, we'll be a little bit better with coming through with our chances."

The defense played special tonight for Lehigh, as senior goalkeeper Will Smith earned his first shutout of the season and the 16th of his career. The defense was anchored by senior Zarin Tuten, who was spectacular for the Mountain Hawks. Jennings, sophomore Justin Scharf, junior Tyler Dressman and even freshman Andrew White found themselves in great positions to help their team succeed and it paid off in the long run.

"Whenever you're chasing a game, you're going to throw more numbers forward and you saw we had two or three counter-attacks where if we had finished the goals, then the game was done," Koski said. "But you keep a team around, they're going to keep throwing numbers forward, it gets a little bit risky.

"I thought we managed it well, we made couple tactical errors there, but we can solve those things and at the end of the day, we want to come out, compete and get a good result."

With the victory, the win extends Lehigh's win streak over Manhattan to five straight, as the Mountain Hawks lead the all-time series over the Jaspers, 5-0.

Lehigh will rest up before heading to Evanston, Ill. next weekend, taking on host Northwestern Friday night before taking on Wisconsin next Sunday afternoon.

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