Lehigh University
No. 6 Maryland
Mountain Hawks fall in OT at No. 6 Maryland
10/14/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
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But the one category the Terrapins could not claim for the first 96 minutes was the only one that mattered: the score. Unfortunately for the Mountain Hawks, Casey Townsend found space in the middle of the box in the 97th minute and fired a blast to the left side for the game-winning goal for
The 2-1 overtime defeat drops the Mountain Hawks to 5-4-3 (1-0-2), while
“We take away from this one the fact that we can match up defensively with a very good attacking team,” head coach Dean Koski said. “We certainly competed in our final third better than we have all season.”
Patrick Cucci’s 53rd-minute goal came when fans least expected it in the second half. With
Any momentum Lehigh had after the Cucci goal was quickly taken away when Odenwelder crashed into
“They showed some character tonight,” Koski said. “Playing with 10 men was hard for them, but they play for one another and that’s really important.”
Still, the Mountain Hawks could taste their second upset of a top 25 team in the last eight days – after Lehigh upended No. 19 Penn in front of the home fans at the Ulrich Sports Complex on October 7. However, the Terrapins had different plans for this one, and they took advantage of having the extra man advantage.
The
Nydell overcame a vaunted
The highlight of Nydell’s day came in the 74th minute, when Jeremy Hall attempted a penalty kick for the Terrapins. The shot was fired hard to Nydell’s right, but he dove and deflected the ball over the crossbar to preserve the 1-0 lead at the time.
“He was great today,” Koski said of his keeper. “He was early to balls, he made great decisions and he took great angles. It was the best game of his career.”
More importantly, Nydell had to overcome the most vocal and enthusiastic crowd the Mountain Hawks have faced on the road this season.
The
“If you can deal with those fans, you can deal with anything in the Patriot League,” Koski said.
The Mountain Hawks return to action on Saturday, when they take on American at the Ulrich Sports Complex at 7 p.m.
