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BETHLEHEM, Pennsylvania – The Lehigh men’s soccer team will play their last game outside of the league before the Patriot League games begin Saturday night and face Fairleigh Dickinson at University Stadium on Tuesday night.
The Mountain Hawks (0-4-0) are still looking for their first win of the 2021 season, but the offense showed against a tough Rutgers squad on Friday night. Senior striker Josh Luchini scored his first goal of the year after a string of headers following a Michael Tahiru free kick to tie the game early in the second half.
The fifth grader Stevo Bednarsky was able to push Lehigh forward with a supposed cross in front of the goal, but was ricocheted by the Rutgers defender and into the own goal.
Two consecutive goals from the Scarlet Knights offense in the second half put the game out of reach as Rutgers captured the 3-2 win.
Luchini and Bratislav Petkovic have scored two of Lehigh’s three goals so far this season, while junior defender Euan Forrest has taken the lead with two assists.
Senior Noah Sutherland and runner-up Blake Koski have divided the tasks between the pipes online and are each starting two contests. Sutherland leads the team with a GAA of 1.50 and makes seven saves with 27 shots hit.
A win over the Knights on Tuesday would end Lehigh’s longest streak of bad luck at the start of the season since 2012 (0-7 start).
The FDU are in their first five games at the start of the 2-3-0 season with wins over Patriot League opponents Armyt West Point (1-0) on August 30th and Lafayette (3-0) on September 7th. The Knights come from a 2-1 loss to Fordham on Saturday.
At the goals of the FDU, two attackers lead the lead, led by Noah Chia and Joshua Ferreira with two goals each. Diego Arribas has two helpers to speed up the team. A combination of three goalkeepers was in the gate this season, with Vinicius Cadengue and Spencer King each making two starts. Cadengue leads the Knights with a GAA of 1.20 and a total of 13 saves and receives a shutout with a 1-2-0 record.
The all-time series between Lehigh and FDU is knotted 7-7-4 in a matchup that dates back to 1979. The Mountain Hawks defeated the Knights 1-0 on the road on September 13. 2016 and have won three games in a row between the two teams since the 2014 season.
The matchup on Tuesday evening will be broadcast live on NEC Front Row at 7:00 p.m.
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