Lehigh men’s soccer downs Loyola 1-0, Koski gets 200th win

To a casual onlooker, it was business as usual for the Lehigh men’s soccer team.

But in reality, the Hawks’ 1-0 victory over Loyola University (Maryland) Saturday night represented 24 years in the making as coach Dean Koski collected the 200^th win of his career.

Koski’s main focus going into the game was fixing up his team’s defensive play, and his players responded well by allowing only three shots on goal in their seventh shutout of the season.

“At times it was sloppy for both teams, but I think our mentality defensively was much better than it’s been in the last couple of games,” Koski said.

It was no secret that the Mountain Hawks (7-5-1, 2-3 Patriot) had been struggling defensively entering the contest, allowing opponents to tally six goals in their past two games. On Saturday night, in what junior midfielder and captain Danny Gonzalez described as a must-win game, the team hardly gave Loyola a chance to score at all.

Senior forward/midfielder Jamie Luchini scored the lone goal of the game in the 22^nd minute when he buried a penalty kick right down the middle. The penalty kick was awarded when a Loyola defender played the ball with his hand while trying to stop a cross into the box.

Sophomore goalie Joe Bogan made all three of his saves in the first half.

At the 45 minute mark, Lehigh had the edge in the battle of possession, with junior midfielder/defender Gianfranco Giammatteo and sophomore forward Doyle Tuvesson doing a good job of moving the ball up the right side.

Loyola, on the other hand, struggled to set much up offensively in settled situations, but were quick to advance the ball up the field whenever it gained possession off of a Lehigh turnover. However, Lehigh’s back four defenders were there to clean up all dangerous situations.

Coming out of the locker room, both teams were fired up as they knew how important the outcome would be to their respective playoff chances.

The second half was filled with intense, physical play as Loyola tried to claw its way back into the game. The Greyhounds shook the game up with some questionable tackles and received two yellow cards in less than 10 minutes.

But Lehigh was ready to respond to such an effort.

“Every Patriot League game is a fight,” said junior defender captain Justin Worley in an email prior to the game.

The defensive players of Lehigh kept their composure and prevented Loyola from even registering a shot on goal in final 45 minutes of the game.

When Loyola activated its defenders more in the dying moments of the game in a desperate attempt to score an equalizer, Lehigh freshman forward/midfielder Mark Forrest held the ball up the field away from his goal.

With this win, the Mountain Hawks are still just 2-3 in league play and will have to continue their strong defense if they want to make the playoffs. Koski estimates that Lehigh will need to win at least two out of their last four league games to accomplish this.

The Mountain Hawks have not won or lost more than two consecutive games this season. If they are to keep their playoff hopes alive, Lehigh will have to show a level of consistency that has escaped them so far this year.

Lehigh men’s soccer will play its final non-league game of the year when it faces James Madison University at home Tuesday at 7 p.m.