The Stony Brook men's soccer team opened the 2011 regular season with a competitive 0-0 tie against Lehigh Saturday morning. The game was moved from a 7 p.m. start to an 11 a.m. start in anticipation of Hurricane Irene's arrival.

"I'm proud of the guys' effort today especially with the game time change and the long trip to get here," Anatol said. "I thought we played well and had the better of the match. But Lehigh's goalkeeper made some outstanding saves that kept us off the scoreboard. It's disappointing to end the match scoreless, but I'm proud of the effort and the attitude."

The two teams each took 13 shots, but the Seawolves had better scoring opportunities with six shots on goal to Lehigh's two. Junior Berian Gobeil Cruz led the team with two shots on goal.

In the first half, freshman Sverre Ofstad had SBU's first scoring opportunity with a shot in the 11th minute that Lehigh keeper Ciaran Nugent saved.

Stony Brook's best scoring opportunity in the second half came on Gobeil Cruz's 62nd minute shot that Nugent made a nice save on.

In the first overtime, Stony Brook nearly won the match with a series of shots. With 90 seconds left in the period, Gobeil Cruz had a close-range shot that Nugent stopped but did not hold on to. Sophomore Will Casey was there for the rebound, but his shot hit the post and bounced back to him. He took a second shot, but Nugent was there for the save.

Stefan Manz started in net for the Seawolves and thanks to a strong defensive effort by players such as senior Serigne Sylla, he faced only two shots on goal and stopped them both for his 10th career shutout.

Stony Brook is back in action next Friday, Sept. 2 against Pittsburgh as part of the Duquesne Invitational. Kick off will be at 5:30 p.m.

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