BETHLEHEM, Pa. – The Navy men's soccer team dropped its fourth-straight Patriot League match following a 1-0 defeat to Lehigh on the road on Saturday night.
 
The Midshipmen (1-9-1, 0-4-0 Patriot League) held a 5-4 edge in shots on goal in the first half, but the Mountain Hawks (7-4-1, 4-0-0 PL) controlled the offensive pressure in the second half with five shots on goal, compared to none from Navy.
 
"We played a good opponent tonight," head coach Tim O'Donohue stated after the match. "I thought we created some good chances and I was very proud of the effort we put forth tonight."
 
In the first 45 minutes of action between Navy and Lehigh, neither team found the back of the net, despite scoring opportunities from both sides. In the 14th minute, the Mountain Hawks looked to break the scoreless affair, but the Midshipmen came up strong on the backline. After Mark Forrest had his shot blocked, Trevor Koski looked to score on what was a vacant net, but Navy's defense was able to clear the ball off the line to keep the score knotted at zero. 
 
The Midshipmen tried to flex their muscle offensively with a pair of shots in the 17th and 18th minutes, but Lehigh kept them at ease. 
 
During the back-and-forth first half, the Mountain Hawks had 13 shots, while Navy had eight, but the Midshipmen held a 5-4 advantage in shots on goal.
 
Lehigh started strong in the second half with a goal less than five minutes into the period to grab the one-goal lead – which would stick as the lone goal in the match. In the 50th minute, Lehigh blocked a shot from Navy and turned on its counter attack. After the ball was played to the back post from the right wing, Stevo Bednarsky had a shot at goal, but the Navy defense came up with another save. However, Josh Luchini scored off the rebound to give the Mountain Hawks a 1-0 lead.
 
Throughout the second half, Lehigh controlled the tempo of play as it had nine shots in the half and Navy had just four – none of which were on goal. 
 
Facing the 1-0 deficit, the only shot the Midshipmen recorded in the final 30 minutes of play came in the 80th minute from Phillip Gustafson (So., Littleton, Colo.) but his shot was blocked by the Mountain Hawk defense.
 
Late in the match, Tyler Fahning (Fr., Victoria, Minn.) came up with a pair of big saves to keep Navy in the match, but Lehigh held off the Mids en route to a 1-0 win.
 
Fahning made a career-high six saves for Navy, but the Midshipmen suffered their sixth-straight loss.
 
Lehigh continues to sit atop the Patriot League standings as it is the only team with a record of 4-0-0.
 
Navy returns to action next Friday at Army-Navy Cup VII. The Midshipmen take on Army for the annual Star Match within the Army-Navy Star Series, presented by USAA. Navy takes on the Black Knights at Talen Energy Stadium in Chester, Pa., on Friday at 7 p.m.