Saturday, September 28
Bethlehem, Pa.
6 p.m.
Lehigh University
vs
Boston U.
Photo by: Brent Hugo
Clicking offensively, Lehigh returns home to face Boston U.
9/27/2019 11:59:00 AM | Men's Soccer
BETHLEHEM, Pa. — After a three-game road trip in three different areas, the Lehigh men's soccer team is set to return to the Ulrich Sports Complex on Saturday to host Boston University at 6 p.m. The Mountain Hawks (5-2, 1-0 PL) are in search of their third straight victory against the Terriers (0-7-1, 0-1 PL) after obtaining a 2-1 win over Penn on Tuesday and a 2-1 win over American in the Patriot League opener on Saturday in Washington, D.C.
So far this season, Lehigh is 2-0 at home with wins over Manhattan and Seton Hall and now direct its attention to Patriot League play with Boston U. coming to town this weekend.
The Mountain Hawks are paced offensively by sophomore forward Josh Luchini, who scored his fifth goal of the season on Tuesday against Penn, which proved to be the game-winner in the 67th minute. Luchini leads the Patriot League in goals and is second in points with 10 through the first seven games of the season. The more telling statistic regarding Luchini is his 11 goals through the first 25 games of his career. In comparison, Mark Forrest '19 had 16 goals and seven assists through his first 25 career games, which totaled 37 points. Forrest went on to be second in program history in career goals (41) and points (103).
Michael Tahiru has also been a shining light for the Mountain Hawks as of late, scoring in back-to-back games and also providing the assist on Luchini's game-winning goal on Tuesday night. Tahiru has been excellent so far this season with two goals and two assists through Lehigh's first seven games.
Lehigh currently is ranked second in the Patriot League in goals allowed per game at 0.86, while scoring 1.43 goals per game and averaging 13.29 shots per contest. The Mountain Hawk defense has been stellar, despite allowing four goals in their last three games. Led by senior goalkeeper Will Smith, Zarin Tuten, Tyler Dressman, Justin Scharf, Andrew White among others, the Mountain Hawks have managed three shutouts this season and look for their fourth against a struggling Boston University team, still in search of its first victory of the season.
The Terriers have not won this season, but they have still made the year competitive against good teams. Boston U. has went to double-overtime in three of its last four games, most recently falling to Northeastern, 1-0 in 2OT on Tuesday. The Terriers lost their Patriot League opener last Saturday at Lafayette, 2-1. Matt McDonnell leads the team in goals after scoring two of Boston University's three tallies this season. McDonnell leads the team and the league in shots with 29, 13 of them on goal. The only other goal this season was scored by Kari Petursson while both assists this year have been registered by Marc Roura. Goalkeeper Michael Stone is still searching for his first victory of the season, but has a GAA of 1.64 in seven games played. While winless, the Terriers can still show signs of life and aggressiveness this season, as they were picked to finish fifth in the league and predicted to earn a tournament spot.
A fairly new matchup since Boston U. joined the Patriot League before the 2013 season, the Terriers lead the all-time series over the Mountain Hawks, 4-3. Lehigh picked up a 2-1 victory in overtime last season on Sept. 29, 2018. After Forrest scored in the 79th minute to tie the game up at one, Matthew Peralta scored the golden goal in the 93rd minute to hand Lehigh its fifth win of the season and improve its league record to 2-0.
Saturday's matchup will be streamed live on the Patriot League Network with coverage beginning at 6 p.m.
Like Lehigh Men's Soccer on Facebook, follow on Twitter and Instagram for continued updates on the Mountain Hawks.
So far this season, Lehigh is 2-0 at home with wins over Manhattan and Seton Hall and now direct its attention to Patriot League play with Boston U. coming to town this weekend.
The Mountain Hawks are paced offensively by sophomore forward Josh Luchini, who scored his fifth goal of the season on Tuesday against Penn, which proved to be the game-winner in the 67th minute. Luchini leads the Patriot League in goals and is second in points with 10 through the first seven games of the season. The more telling statistic regarding Luchini is his 11 goals through the first 25 games of his career. In comparison, Mark Forrest '19 had 16 goals and seven assists through his first 25 career games, which totaled 37 points. Forrest went on to be second in program history in career goals (41) and points (103).
Michael Tahiru has also been a shining light for the Mountain Hawks as of late, scoring in back-to-back games and also providing the assist on Luchini's game-winning goal on Tuesday night. Tahiru has been excellent so far this season with two goals and two assists through Lehigh's first seven games.
Lehigh currently is ranked second in the Patriot League in goals allowed per game at 0.86, while scoring 1.43 goals per game and averaging 13.29 shots per contest. The Mountain Hawk defense has been stellar, despite allowing four goals in their last three games. Led by senior goalkeeper Will Smith, Zarin Tuten, Tyler Dressman, Justin Scharf, Andrew White among others, the Mountain Hawks have managed three shutouts this season and look for their fourth against a struggling Boston University team, still in search of its first victory of the season.
The Terriers have not won this season, but they have still made the year competitive against good teams. Boston U. has went to double-overtime in three of its last four games, most recently falling to Northeastern, 1-0 in 2OT on Tuesday. The Terriers lost their Patriot League opener last Saturday at Lafayette, 2-1. Matt McDonnell leads the team in goals after scoring two of Boston University's three tallies this season. McDonnell leads the team and the league in shots with 29, 13 of them on goal. The only other goal this season was scored by Kari Petursson while both assists this year have been registered by Marc Roura. Goalkeeper Michael Stone is still searching for his first victory of the season, but has a GAA of 1.64 in seven games played. While winless, the Terriers can still show signs of life and aggressiveness this season, as they were picked to finish fifth in the league and predicted to earn a tournament spot.
A fairly new matchup since Boston U. joined the Patriot League before the 2013 season, the Terriers lead the all-time series over the Mountain Hawks, 4-3. Lehigh picked up a 2-1 victory in overtime last season on Sept. 29, 2018. After Forrest scored in the 79th minute to tie the game up at one, Matthew Peralta scored the golden goal in the 93rd minute to hand Lehigh its fifth win of the season and improve its league record to 2-0.
Saturday's matchup will be streamed live on the Patriot League Network with coverage beginning at 6 p.m.
Like Lehigh Men's Soccer on Facebook, follow on Twitter and Instagram for continued updates on the Mountain Hawks.
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