Lehigh Holds Off St. John’s, 1-0

Tuesday, September 4

Queens, N.Y. (Belson Stadium)

7:30 P.M.

St. John's University

2-2-0

Lehigh

2-2-0

Lehigh

St. John's

Freshman Brandon Knapp

9/4/2018 10:08:00 PM | Men's Soccer

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

Red Storm outshot Mountain Hawks, 10-3, in second half

A 44th minute goal from Tommy Dokho proved to be the difference maker at Belson Stadium on Tuesday night, as Lehigh withstood a flurry of late St. John's chances to hold off the Red Storm, 1-0, in front of a crowd of 1,180 fans.

Lehigh's Will Smith made five of his seven saves in the second half, holding off a St. John's offense that appeared to be on the cusp of breaking through the entire night. The Johnnies (2-2-0) fired off four shots in the final three minutes alone, but could not manage to send one home. The Red Storm enjoyed perhaps its best chance of the game with a little under a minute to go, as Johan Aquilon bounced a ball just over the cross bar following a terrific cross from Matt Forster.

St. John's outshot Lehigh (2-2-0), 13-7, on the game, including a 10-3 margin in the second half. Five of the Red Storm's 10 second-stanza opportunities were on target as well.

A member of Monday's BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll, Tani Oluwaseyi put all four of his team-high shots on net, but Smith came up with the stop on each occasion.

Tyron Matuta started in goal for St. John's, making three saves on the evening.

Following a back-and-forth start, Lehigh finally snapped the scoreless tie in the closing seconds of the opening half, taking advantage of a broken play to move ahead 1-0 in the 44^th minute. The Mountain Hawks began the sequence with a long ball into their offensive zone that was mishandled by a Red Storm defender. Mark Forrest took possession and sent a try on target that got past a sliding Matuta, but was turned aside by Ackim Mpofu. Mpofu's deflection sent the ball to the left of the cage, where it was picked up by Lehigh's Ikem Mbalwe. Mbalwe played it in front for Tommy Dokho, who sent it above Mpofu and into the back of the net.

Neither team managed to muster up much offense at the beginning of the second half, as Tiago Teixeira recorded the period's first shot nearly 15 minutes into the action.

Oluwaseyi registered three attempts on goal between the 63rd and 71st minutes, but Smith came up with the save on all three chances.

With their backs against the wall in the closing minutes of play, the Johnnies unleashed a final barrage, but could not net the equalizer as Lehigh escaped Queens with a 1-0 victory.

St. John's will return to action on Saturday, traveling to Philadelphia for a 7 p.m. showdown with the Temple Owls.