On senior night, the Lehigh men’s soccer team team suffered a 3-1 defeat to American University to eliminate the Mountain Hawks from playoff contention.
The team came into Saturday’s game with high expectations. The Hawks (7-10-1, 3-6 Patriot) were fresh off of a win last Saturday at Bucknell that kept their playoff hopes alive.
Right before the start, the team received the news that rival Lafayette College had lost a critical game against Colgate University. This meant if Lehigh could defeat the top-ranked Eagles, and if Bucknell also suffered a lost later that night, the Mountain Hawks would make the playoffs. A goal that seemed unthinkable just a couple weeks ago soon became a real possibility.
Until the whistle blew.
American came ready to play, especially because they had an opportunity to capture the No. 1 seed in the Patriot League tournament with a victory. They had several attempts on goal within the first few minutes of the game.
The Eagles broke through with their first goal coming at 10:10 on a play by freshman Max Holdsworth, and the next shortly after at 14:30 by senior Dale Ludwig. Ludwig soon followed up his goal by an executed header off of a corner kick at 34:02.
Just like that, the Mountain Hawks trailed 3-0. Lehigh coach Dean Koski was less than pleased with how the team started.
“I mean you come out for the most important game of the season and give up three goals in the first half, you’ve given yourself a real daunting task for the second half,” Koski said. “We did a poor job of preparing this group for this game and this moment.”
The second half proved to be a daunting task. While Lehigh came out with more intensity, it wasn’t able to break the strong, controlled pace of the American squad. Junior Jack Miskel was able to sneak one in for Lehigh around the 52-minute mark.
However, the Eagles’ defense frustrated the Mountain Hawks for the rest of the game. Lehigh lost some control of its emotions, as it was given two red cards towards the end of the game.
“I appreciate the effort that the guys made that stayed on the field,” Koski said. “I was hugely disappointed with our lack of discipline in the second half.”
The loss meant that the Mountain Hawks, who were Patriot League Champions last year, were not going to make the playoffs this year.
Koski added that the graduating seniors will leave a void.
“We’re gonna miss (the seniors),” Koski said. “We’re gonna miss their leadership, we’re going to miss their character, and we’re gonna miss their citizenship. We’re gonna miss their performances. They’re a great group of guys.”
Koski said the team has work to do to prepare for next year.
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