Lehigh University
Towson
Mountain Hawks fall to Towson 2-0
9/10/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
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BETHLEHEM, Pa. – The Lehigh men’s soccer team lost to the Towson Tigers 2-0 on a rainy Thursday night at the Ulrich Sports Complex. After battling to a scoreless tie for the first two thirds of the game the Tigers were able to get the game winner off a penalty kick from junior Marco Mangione in the 67th minute. With the loss Lehigh falls to 1-2-1 and Towson improves to 2-1.
“It was one of those games where whoever got the first goal was going to win,” head coach Dean Koski said. “Once they scored things opened up and that isn’t our style of play.”
Towson sealed the game with a goal in the 86th minute from sophomore Liam Maloney who took a pass from fellow classmate Tommy Appel-Schumacher. For Maloney it was his team leading third goal of the season.
Despite the two goal deficit the Mountain Hawks fought to the very end, getting off two shots in the dying minutes of the game.
“We didn’t give up,” Koski said. “We didn’t make some great decisions, but we competed to the very end.”
Seniors Adam Gazda and Adam Welch paced Lehigh with three shots apiece. Jonathan Nydell made two saves in the losing effort for the Mountain Hawks.
Both teams had to battle through some steady rain that started early in the first half. It did not have any effect on either team as they competed to the very end.
“The rain didn’t hinder us more or less than it did Towson,” Koski said. “We’re two evenly matched teams and it showed today.”
Lehigh, which is preparing for Patriot League play, has been training hard over the last week. Because of this the Mountain Hawks had a good rotation of players coming in and out of the game.
“Honestly we’ve been pushing them physically over the last week,” Koski said. The guys had heavy legs tonight, but I appreciated how hard they played to the very end.
The Mountain Hawks will have a few days off before they start preparing for their next opponent and it will be important for them to get rested up.
“Most important thing is to rest and recover over the next few days,” Koski said. “We will get back at it Sunday and continue to raise the bar.”
Lehigh will hit the road for its second road trip of the season when they go to Newark, Del. to take on the Delaware Fightin’ Blue Hens Tuesday at 7:00 p.m.
Lehigh - Towson Post-Game Extra
