Lehigh Stifles Drexel in 3-0 Victory

Tuesday, October 17

Philadelphia, Pa.

7 p.m.

Lehigh University

9-4-1

Drexel

2-10-1

Team	1	2	Final F
Lehigh	2	1	3
Drexel	0	0	0

10/17/2017 9:39:00 PM | Men's Soccer

Box Score

PHILADELPHIA, Pa. – The Mountain Hawks finished off their slate of non-league contests with a convincing 3-0 victory at Drexel on Tuesday night. Lehigh tallied twice in the later stages of the first half and then put the game on ice with a final tally with just minutes left to play.

Lehigh (9-4-1) had the upper hand in the first half, owning the majority of the possession and dictating the tempo offensively against the Dragons (2-10-1). The pressure eventually mounted and resulted in a goal in the 29th minute. Alex Greene was left unmarked with a clear shooting lane from just outside the 18-yard line. Greene capitalized on the quality chance and finished a low strike to the left corner of the net.

"When he's facing the goal and with room to shoot, he's been really good about putting the ball on frame. His goal was really big because it took a little bit of the pressure off and at that point we were able to go hunting for the next one," said head coach Dean Koski.

The Mountain Hawks did not let up after taking a 1-0 lead, but instead tacked on another first half tally in the 44th minute. Tatsu Otani started the play with a run up the right side, lofted a cross to the middle and found Mark Forrest perched in the middle, who headed the ball into the net.

Lehigh imposed its will on Drexel in the first half, compiling a 12-3 shot advantage, including a 5-1 advantage in shots on goal. The Mountain Hawks also owned a 6-3 margin in corner kicks.

Drexel had Lehigh on its heels to start the second half as the Dragon brought the pressure. Will Smith came up big with three crucial saves, two in the 50th minute and one in the 53rd to prevent a potential early comeback effort by Drexel.

"We gave Will the man of the match because when we needed him to make a save in a really crucial part of the game, he got the job done," said Koski. "If he lets one of those shots in at that moment of the game, that really changes things for us. Credit Will for a really good performance tonight."

Smith made seven saves on the night, including six in the second half, en route to his second-straight clean sheet. The Dragons evened up the total shot count as they out-shot the Mountain Hawks 10-7 in the final 45 minutes.

Doyle Tuvesson put the game out of reach when he tacked on a third goal for Lehigh in the 84th minute. It was an odd-man rush for Lehigh and Tuvesson knew what to do as he finished a low strike to the back of the net from just inside the box.

"Getting the second goal before halftime was huge, but the third goal was the one that took the air out of the game. Credit Drexel, they were still hungry throughout the second half and competed hard to the very end," said Koski.

With Drexel out of the way, Lehigh shifts its focus to the final stretch of Patriot League contests, beginning with a trip to American on Saturday. Kickoff in Washington, D.C. is set for 2 p.m.