BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Despite sophomore
Keke Abai scoring his first career goal, the Boston University men's soccer team fell at Lehigh, 3-1, on Saturday night.
Abai netted the equalizer in the 56th minute, but the Mountain Hawks (3-6-1, 2-1-0 PL) shortly thereafter responded with two goals to defeat the Terriers (1-3-6, 1-1-1 PL). Aiden Gonzalez led the Lehigh offense with a brace, while Perry Kingson tallied two assists.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- BU had multiple unlucky breaks, starting in the fourth minute when junior Quin DeLaMater nailed the right post on a free kick taken just outside the box.
- Junior Diego Rived tried to grab the lead on the rebound, but Blake Koski was in position for the save.
- The Terriers had two shots in the 11th minute following the game's first corner, but senior Neal Carlson and junior Ryan Lau were off the mark.
- Lehigh earned consecutive corners in the 20th minute but were unable to convert.
- After Rived hit the right post at 33:43, sophomore Luke Dunne pounced on a poor back pass to Koski but was pressured into a quick shot that went over the crossbar at 37:45.
- Two minutes later, BU earned another corner, but the Mountain Hawks' Kingson helped start a successful counter with a long pass to Gonzalez, who dribbled into the box at an angle and fired a shot past junior Sheraz Saadat.
- After his shot attempt was saved by Koski at 49:07, DeLaMater launched a long pass up the field to Abai, who quickly fired a grounder under the keeper's legs to tie the game, 1-1, at 55:19.
- The Mountain Hawks retook the lead at 65:38 when Sam Davis headed in a service pass from Beckett Wenger.
- Gonzalez quickly added an insurance score at 67:11 after the BU backline turned over the ball and Saadat came off his line rushing to stop a shot attempt.
- Trying to mount a rally, Di Blasio nailed the right post at 82:07, and Koski stopped a shot from DeLaMater in the final seconds of regulation.
GAME NOTES
- Abai became the 10th Terrier to score a goal this season, while DeLaMater became the third to earn multiple assists.
- Saadat finished with two saves in his second career start, while Koski tallied three.
- The teams finished tied in shots, 10-10, with the Mountain Hawks owning a 5-4 edge in corners.
- With the final result, the home team has now won the last five contests in the series with the victor totaling 16 goals during that stretch.
UP NEXT
- BU will return home to host Lafayette next Saturday (Oct. 5) with a 4 p.m. start as part of a Soc'toberFest doubleheader.
- The Terriers claimed their first PL tournament title last fall at home against the Leopards in a 1-0 decision.
- BU snapped a six-game (0-4-2) winless streak in the series.