BETHLEHEM, Pa. – The Lehigh men’s soccer team erupted offensively as the Mountain Hawks claimed a 4-0 win over Fairleigh Dickinson to snap a four-game losing streak Tuesday night at the Ulrich Sports Complex. Junior Kyle Chin recorded his first career tally in the 16th minute and the score remained at 1-0 until the 78th minute when Lehigh netted three more goals in the next nine minutes, two of which came from sophomore Gianfranco Giammatteo and one from freshman Doyle Tuvesson. Lehigh improves to 7-7 with the win while the Knights fall to 3-9-2 on the season.

 

The four goals mark Lehigh’s highest offensive effort since Oct. 22, 2011 when the Mountain Hawks tallied four at Holy Cross. The win also marks Lehigh’s largest margin of victory since a 5-1 win at Delaware on Sept. 15, 2009.

 

“Any time that you score four goals, home or away, is a good thing,” said head coach Dean Koski. “Goals are hard to come by in Division I soccer and FDU is a good Division I team. It was good for our guys to get those four goals because we were coming off a stretch where we really struggled to score goals.”

 

Neither team tallied a shot until the 14th minute when a free kick from senior Ali Famili soared over the goal. In the 16th minute, freshman David Zipkin made a beautiful cross from the right side of the field to the far post as Chin was able to get a foot on it and send it through the small opening between FDU keeper Aleksandar Djekic’s hand and the post to give the Mountain Hawks  a 1-0 lead.

 

The Knights got off their first shot of the game in the 28th minute when Martin Lukaschik sent a ball wide before lightning in the area forced a 47 minute weather delay with 10:24 remaining in the first half.

 

Following the weather delay and shortened halftime, Lehigh pressured with two shots in the first five minutes of the second half, but Djekic was there to save one while the other was blocked by the FDU defense.  A 78th minute goal from Tuvesson sparked Lehigh’s offensive outburst as the rookie connected on a pass from junior Ryan Bertrando to score his fourth goal of the season.

 

Just three minutes later, junior Jamie Luchini sent a pristine cross to Giammatteo who finished the ball at the far post to add another insurance tally for the Mountain Hawks. Giammatteo struck again in the 87th minute as he connected on a ball that was being bobbled around the box after a corner kick as Lehigh took a 4-0 lead.

 

FDU got their second and final shot off in the 88th minute as Bayan Mafarjeh sent a desperation attempt far wide of the goal as the Lehigh defense continued to stand strong and the Mountain Hawks walked off with a big 4-0 win.

 

Freshman keeper Joe Bogan wasn’t forced to make and saves, but made a few key defensive plays in his second collegiate game. FDU’s Djekic finished with two saves. Lehigh held a 12-2 shot advantage, while corner kicks were tied at three.  The Mountain Hawks used 20 players in the victory.

 

Next up, Lehigh remains home to host Army on Senior Night Saturday at 7 p.m. General Admission tickets will cost $5 and students, faculty and staff will receive free admission with a Lehigh ID. The Goodman Bus Service will depart the Dialogue Center on Taylor Street 45 and 15 minutes prior to game time to transport students to the game and return post-game.
 
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