Lehigh University
Penn State
Gazda lifts Lehigh past Penn State
10/21/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
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BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Senior captain Adam Gazda netted two goals and sophomore Jonathan Nydell stopped 12 shots in goal as Lehigh downed in-state foe Penn State 2-1 on a cold, blustery evening Tuesday at the Ulrich Sports Complex. Gazda scored both of his goals in the first half and the Mountain Hawks defense did the rest as they raise their record to 6-5-3 with the win. The visiting Nittany Lions fall to 4-8-2 following the defeat.
Gazda got things started for Lehigh when he blasted a free kick past Penn State keeper Liam Fitzwater at the 5:14 mark of the opening half. The score was Gazda’s fifth of the season and gave the Brown and White an early 1-0 lead. The captain then added his second score of the evening when he found the back of the net in the 25th minute. Gazda’s goal came off of a rebound following a nice cross pass in front of the net. Lehigh took its 2-0 lead into halftime.
The visiting Nittany Lions finally got on the board in the 71st minute when Treavor Geksinger took a feed from Matheus Braga and scored his sixth goal of the season. That made the score 2-1 in favor of the home team which is how it would remain.
Nydell finished with 12 saves in net for the Mountain Hawks as he faced a barrage of PSU shots, 21 in all. Lehigh totaled 11 shots on the evening and only one corner kick. Penn State had eight corner kicks and was whistled for nine of the game’s 17 total fouls. Lehigh was able to play nearly its entire team and head coach Dean Koski was pleased with the way his bench stepped up versus a Big Ten opponent.
“Alex Weisberger did a nice job for us, Ross Burki did a nice job, the players who came into the game stepped up tonight and that was huge.” He continued, “Kevin Strunk came in for us and did a nice job in the middle. It’s always nice to get a result like this against a program with the tradition of Penn State. This was a nice mid-week result following a frustrating result this past weekend.”
Koski then commented on the performance of his senior captain. “Adam comes on, plays 60 minutes and scores two goals. I can’t say enough about his play tonight. He’s under the weather and still came out and performed. You can’t ask for more from your captain.”
Lehigh is back in action on Friday afternoon when the Mountain Hawks begin a stretch of three crucial league contests beginning in West Point, New York versus the Black Knights of Army. Game time is set for 4:00.
