BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Navy men's soccer (4-0-0, 3-0-0 Patriot League, 2-0-0 PL South Division) moved into a tie for first place in the Patriot League South Division with a 2-0 win on the road against Lehigh (1-3-0, 1-3-0 Patriot League, 1-3-0 PL South Division) on Saturday night. With the win, Navy is now tied with American atop the South Division with each team recording six points.
 
The Midshipmen scored twice in the second half with Toni Adewole (Sr., Clarksburg, Md.) tallying the game-winning goal and Nicko West (Sr., Mansfield, Texas) scoring Navy's second goal of the match.
 
"It was a good result for us. Lehigh is a very good program and they are excellent at home," head coach Tim O'Donohue commented. "I am very proud of the guys, they played well and put together a good team performance. Now we need to get ready for Loyola on Wednesday."
 
Navy controlled the pace of play during the early portion of the match and held an early 5-1 shot advantage over the Mountain Hawks over the first 30 minutes of play. Lehigh tried to turn the tables and find the first goal of the match with the next four shots, but Navy's defense limited the Mountain Hawks to just one shot on goal for the half.
 
With less than five minutes to play, Adewole took a free kick from just outside the penalty area and his shot got past the Lehigh goalkeeper but rattled off the crossbar as the game remained scoreless at the break.
 
At the half, Lehigh held a narrow 7-6 advantage in shots, but Navy had two shots on goal compared to just one from the Mountain Hawks.
 
Lehigh went a man down early in the second half after Josh Luchini was given a red card. After the red card, the Midshipmen controlled possession and then after three scoring attempts missed the target, Navy found the back of the net in the 61st minute. After a shot from Wyatt Millard (Sr., Columbia, S.C.) was blocked by Lehigh, the Midshipmen were awarded their fourth corner kick of the match. On the ensuing corner kick, David Jackson (Fr., Cypress, Texas) played a cross to the back post where Adewole tucked his header just inside the right post and into the back of the net to give the Midshipmen a 1-0 lead. Jackson picked up his second assist of the season and he now leads the team six points on the year.
 
"David Jackson had another good performance. He sets the tempo for us and he did so tonight, particularly when Lehigh went a man down," O'Donohue mentioned. "He demands the ball and plays above his years. He probably had the most touches of anyone on the field and had a high passing percentage."
 
After taking the one-goal lead, Navy did not let up and continued to press for an insurance goal. The Midshipmen had the next six shots after taking the lead and they forced Blake Koski to make three more saves.
 
During the second half, Navy had 13 shots to finish with 19 on the night and six of its 13 second-half shots were on goal.
 
With time winding down, the Midshipmen had a two-on-one counter attack and Bayne Bentley (Jr., Austin, Texas) laid the ball off to West at the top of the 18-yard box where West beat the Lehigh defender and placed his shot just beyond the diving Koski in 89th minute as his goal sealed the 2-0 win for Navy.
 
Ian Bramblett (Sr., Easley, S.C.) picked up his second-straight shutout after he made a pair of saves and he now sits at 13 career clean sheets, which ranks fifth in program history.
 
Navy caps off its regular-season home schedule on Wednesday night at 7 p.m. against Loyola from the Glenn Warner Soccer Facility.