JERSEY CITY, N.J. – Two late goals to tie the game and one in overtime spelled a loss for the Lehigh men’s soccer team on Tuesday. Brian Suchoski gave the Mountain Hawks a 2-0 lead after scoring two first half goals, including one just 2:14 into the game, but the offense struggled from then on. Saint Peter’s capitalized on second half opportunities to send the game into overtime where it defeated the Mountain Hawks in the extra period.

 

“It’s a disappointing loss in that I thought we played our best 45 minutes of soccer in the first half after scoring two goals and doing the things that we’ve worked on, and then I think it completely fell apart in the second half,” said head coach Dean Koski.

 

The Mountain Hawks were finally able to capitalize on a scoring opportunity when Suchoski took a pass in the box from Dilan Mack and put Lehigh up 1-0 on the first shot of the game just 2:14 into the match. The goal ended the Mountain Hawks’ scoreless drought to start the season. Suchoski wasn’t done in the first half, as he scored unassisted from 18 yards out off a throw-in to put Lehigh up 2-0 in the 33rd minute.

 

“It was a good game by Brian Suchoski with two goals,” said Koski “I thought he worked hard out there.”

 

Junior goalkeeper Ciaran Nugent faced a barrage of shots in the first half, but stopped all three that tested him. Four of the shots came off the foot of forward Noah Sadaoui, two of which were on-goal. The Peacocks’ best chance to beat Nugent in the first half came when Sadaoui hit the crossbar in the sixth minute. 

 

Late in the second half, Sadaoui would finally beat Nugent on a header from 15 yards out to cut the Lehigh lead in half at 2-1. Just 1:37 later, the Peacocks would strike again when Jacob Robertson scored on a header off a cross from Jack Pounce in the 78th minute to even the score. 

 

The game would go into overtime as late corners by both teams were unable to find the back of the net. Early in the extra session, Nugent was tested by Marcel Maddee but was able to come up with the save.

 

In the 98th minute, Robertson was able to beat the Mountain Hawks’ keeper again along the goal line to give the Peacocks a 3-2 overtime win. The three-game losing streak is the longest since the Mountain Hawks dropped three straight from Oct. 3 to Oct. 10, 2009.

 

“The goal in overtime was obviously disappointing,” said Koski. “I think that Saint Peter’s showed a great commitment to fighting its way back into the game. It’s disappointing, but we’ll move on.”

 

The Mountain Hawks will be back in action on Friday night when they travel to Philadelphia to take on the Drexel Dragons at 7 p.m. Lehigh will return to the Ulrich Sports Complex on Wednesday when it plays host to the La Salle Explorers at 7 p.m.