Lehigh men’s soccer showcased a team which had more freshmen appearing than any other roster in over a decade in its back-and-forth 2-2 draw against La Salle University on Sept. 6.
Lehigh took the field for this match with six freshmen in their starting lineup. Three more ended up getting onto the field as substitutes throughout the course of the match. This was the first time Lehigh has fielded nine freshmen in a men’s soccer match since Oct. 9, 2006 against Army.
Freshman defender Sam Davis said he was excited to be able to experience his first home game at the college level.
“My friends were out here, the guys were here,” Davis said. “It feels good to play at home, feels good to not have to sit on the bus.”
Davis was one of the members of the young Lehigh defense who prevented La Salle from putting a single shot on target in the first half of the match.
Lehigh’s best chance in the half came off of a shot from sophomore Yoni Aidlberg, which went off his right foot from the right side of the edge of the box, forcing La Salle’s goalie to make a save to keep the match scoreless.
The two teams entered the locker rooms locked at 0-0 after the first half.
Within a minute of the start of the second half, senior forward Jack Sarkos rocketed a shot for Lehigh’s first near-score of the half. Sarkos then got another chance to get a shot off, this time putting a low shot in the bottom right corner of the goal to give Lehigh a 1-0 lead.
Sarkos, who was Lehigh’s only player selected to the Patriot League Preseason All-League Team this year, said he didn’t feel any additional pressure going into the fourth game of the season knowing he had not scored his first goal yet.
“The goals will come and the results will come,” Sarkos said. “We’re really focused on the Patriot League games, but these out of conference games are good preparation.”
La Salle would later tie the game up with a score over the head of Lehigh freshman goalkeeper Tommy Chyzowych. Lehigh then responded back just a few minutes later when junior Hassane Diakho was fouled inside of the box, leading to Jack Sarkos scoring another goal off of a penalty kick, giving Lehigh a 2-1 lead with 25 minutes left.
In the 70th minute, the game took a dramatic turn when La Salle’s Americo Pereira was given a red card. Lehigh was now up a man and with the lead with 20 minutes left.
Yet, La Salle proceeded to score once again, tying the game up with 17 minutes left. Despite Lehigh’s extra man advantage, they still conceded a goal and did not score for the rest of the match.
“We need to do a better job blocking shots,” coach Dean Koski said. “We keep yielding goals down the middle of the field and that’s a problem.”
After losing its first three matches, Lehigh got its first draw of the season and a large group of young players got their first chance to play in front of their home fans. Lehigh will play its next match on the road on Sept. 12 against Penn State.
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