Saturday, October 26
Bethlehem, Pa.
6 p.m.
Lehigh University
9-4-2, 5-0-2PL
0
vs
0
Lafayette
9-4-2, 4-2-1PL
1
2
3
4
F
Lafayette
0
0
0
0
0
Lehigh
0
0
0
0
0
Photo by: Justin Lafleur
Lehigh plays Lafayette to scoreless draw, stays unbeaten atop Patriot League
10/26/2019 10:33:00 PM | Men's Soccer
BETHLEHEM, Pa. — The Lehigh men's soccer team out-shot Lafayette, 20-12 on a rainy, chilly Saturday evening at the Ulrich Sports Complex, but the final score ended in a scoreless draw as the Mountain Hawks gain a point in the Patriot League standings and remain unbeaten in league play at 5-0-2.
The Mountain Hawks started things off on offense with a Natan Rosen shot that was saved by Alex Sutton in the second minute. In the 17th minute, Trevor Koski's shot was saved by Sutton and the Leopards followed that up with a shot on goal from Yiannis Panayides that was saved by Will Smith in the 18th minute.
In a span of seven minutes from there forward, the Mountain Hawks fired off three more shots from Rosen, Koski and Michael Tahiru. Rosen and Tahiru both had shots that were blocked in the 29th minute.
In the 38th minute, Andrew White made a gorgeous play on the ball that resulted in a team save for Lehigh after a shot from Christian Williams to keep the score at 0-0. Ikem Mbalewe was Lehigh's final shot of the first half, which was blocked in the 42nd minute.
At the end of the first 45 minutes, the Mountain Hawks were ahead in shots, 11-6.
Lehigh did not register a shot on goal in the second half, but tallied seven chances against the Lafayette defense. The Leopards had five shots in the second stanza, including a header shot by Williams that was saved by Will Smith in the 83rd minute. At the end of two periods of play, the Mountain Hawks and Leopards were scoreless heading into the overtime period.
Both teams had one shot apiece with a chance to score after Andrew Venezia's shot was saved by Will Smith in the 93rd minute and then Trevor Koski had another chance to score in the 98th minute, but was saved by Sutton. That ended the period and sent the teams to a second overtime.
The only shot that was registered in the second OT was off the foot of Blaise Milanek, which went high in the 102nd minute. Lehigh drew four fouls, while the Leopards tallied three to end the period and the game 0-0.
"I don't think tonight was our best performance across the board," said head coach Dean Koski. "I think more than in the past, more players struggled to play their best today. I'm not sure why and certainly we'll take ownership of that as a coaching staff.
"We weren't as sharp as I would like us to be in the final third, I thought we were impatient at times, I would've liked to see us shoot the ball a little more, but I don't think we played with a collective energy I don't think we were clicking on all the same gears today."
Natan Rosen led the way in shots for Lehigh with seven, while Koski added four and both Tahiru and Josh Luchini each added three.
Will Smith made three saves and registered his seventh shutout of the season, the 22nd of his career, as he continues to rise through the ranks in the Patriot League record book, still sixth all-time in league history.
"We know that Lafayette has scored more goals than any other team in the league, they've done a really good job of creating opportunities for themselves, so I think we did a good job of not giving them as many good looks," Koski said.
"But we didn't do a good job in terms of our discipline and fouling, I thought we were a little bit too reckless in that area and that gave them more opportunities. I will tell you that we did what we had to do defensively, but didn't do what we needed to do on the offensive side of the ball."
After 116 meetings between Lehigh and Lafayette, Lehigh still leads the all-time series between the two teams, 57-48-11. This is the first time since Sept. 27, 2008 that the two rivals played to a scoreless draw.
The Mountain Hawks are still in the top spot in the league with two matches left to play in the 2019 season. Having clinched a spot in the tournament already, the team will need another positive result next Saturday at Holy Cross to clinch one of the two top seeds and a first round bye into the semifinal round of the Patriot League Tournament.
"I think at the end of the day, we just want our guys to stay focus on the process and trust it and each other," said Koski. "We need to continue to take care of our bodies, rest and stay on top of their studies.
"We need to continue to do what we've been doing from day one, there's no reason for us to change anything at this point, so we're going to stay true to who we are."
Like Lehigh Men's Soccer on Facebook, follow on Twitter and Instagram for continued updates on the Mountain Hawks.
Gallery: (10/26/2019) Men's Soccer vs. Lafayette, 10/26/19
The Mountain Hawks started things off on offense with a Natan Rosen shot that was saved by Alex Sutton in the second minute. In the 17th minute, Trevor Koski's shot was saved by Sutton and the Leopards followed that up with a shot on goal from Yiannis Panayides that was saved by Will Smith in the 18th minute.
In a span of seven minutes from there forward, the Mountain Hawks fired off three more shots from Rosen, Koski and Michael Tahiru. Rosen and Tahiru both had shots that were blocked in the 29th minute.
In the 38th minute, Andrew White made a gorgeous play on the ball that resulted in a team save for Lehigh after a shot from Christian Williams to keep the score at 0-0. Ikem Mbalewe was Lehigh's final shot of the first half, which was blocked in the 42nd minute.
At the end of the first 45 minutes, the Mountain Hawks were ahead in shots, 11-6.
Lehigh did not register a shot on goal in the second half, but tallied seven chances against the Lafayette defense. The Leopards had five shots in the second stanza, including a header shot by Williams that was saved by Will Smith in the 83rd minute. At the end of two periods of play, the Mountain Hawks and Leopards were scoreless heading into the overtime period.
Both teams had one shot apiece with a chance to score after Andrew Venezia's shot was saved by Will Smith in the 93rd minute and then Trevor Koski had another chance to score in the 98th minute, but was saved by Sutton. That ended the period and sent the teams to a second overtime.
The only shot that was registered in the second OT was off the foot of Blaise Milanek, which went high in the 102nd minute. Lehigh drew four fouls, while the Leopards tallied three to end the period and the game 0-0.
"I don't think tonight was our best performance across the board," said head coach Dean Koski. "I think more than in the past, more players struggled to play their best today. I'm not sure why and certainly we'll take ownership of that as a coaching staff.
"We weren't as sharp as I would like us to be in the final third, I thought we were impatient at times, I would've liked to see us shoot the ball a little more, but I don't think we played with a collective energy I don't think we were clicking on all the same gears today."
Natan Rosen led the way in shots for Lehigh with seven, while Koski added four and both Tahiru and Josh Luchini each added three.
Will Smith made three saves and registered his seventh shutout of the season, the 22nd of his career, as he continues to rise through the ranks in the Patriot League record book, still sixth all-time in league history.
"We know that Lafayette has scored more goals than any other team in the league, they've done a really good job of creating opportunities for themselves, so I think we did a good job of not giving them as many good looks," Koski said.
"But we didn't do a good job in terms of our discipline and fouling, I thought we were a little bit too reckless in that area and that gave them more opportunities. I will tell you that we did what we had to do defensively, but didn't do what we needed to do on the offensive side of the ball."
After 116 meetings between Lehigh and Lafayette, Lehigh still leads the all-time series between the two teams, 57-48-11. This is the first time since Sept. 27, 2008 that the two rivals played to a scoreless draw.
The Mountain Hawks are still in the top spot in the league with two matches left to play in the 2019 season. Having clinched a spot in the tournament already, the team will need another positive result next Saturday at Holy Cross to clinch one of the two top seeds and a first round bye into the semifinal round of the Patriot League Tournament.
"I think at the end of the day, we just want our guys to stay focus on the process and trust it and each other," said Koski. "We need to continue to take care of our bodies, rest and stay on top of their studies.
"We need to continue to do what we've been doing from day one, there's no reason for us to change anything at this point, so we're going to stay true to who we are."
Like Lehigh Men's Soccer on Facebook, follow on Twitter and Instagram for continued updates on the Mountain Hawks.
Team Stats
LAFAYETT
LEHIGH
Goals
0
0
Shots
12
20
Shots on Goal
4
3
Saves
3
4
Corners
2
4
Fouls
21
19
Game Leaders
Shots
7
SOG
1
Goals
0
Assists
0
Shots
4
SOG
2
Goals
0
Assists
0
Shots
3
SOG
0
Goals
0
Assists
0
Shots
3
SOG
0
Goals
0
Assists
0
Players Mentioned
M
/ Men's SoccerF
/ Men's Soccer
F
/ Men's Soccer
M
/ Men's SoccerM/F
/ Men's Soccer
GK
/ Men's SoccerF/M
/ Men's Soccer
D
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