Men’s Soccer Rallies Late to Defeat Mountain Hawks in Overtime

After a dismal start in which the Lions’ backline allowed two goals in 10 minutes, four Columbians—three of them defensive players—rose to the occasion to notch their first individual goals of the season and helped the Lions beat Lehigh in a thrilling 4-3 overtime win.

Lehigh came out strong, earning its first corner kick in just the third minute. Aaron Gildner restarted from the right corner and found Vincent Devine, who placed a perfect header inside the right post.

Six minutes later, on another corner, Lehigh’s Matt Thaeder slipped through traffic to slot home his team’s second goal.

“On those first two goals, we weren’t manned up tight enough,” Patrick Huston explained. “It was just sloppy defending, and we really didn’t go up strong for either ball.”

Down 2-0, the Lions could not find their feet on either end of the field as Lehigh continued to press the lethargic Lion defense. On the other side, the Mountain Hawks’ backline, even in the rain, was watertight.

But with two minutes remaining in the half, the Lions’ first solid chance came, and they took it.

Senior Tom Heinbockel bent in a free-kick that Demetri Arnaoutakis, having lost his mark, headed to the far post to cut the Lehigh deficit in half entering halftime.

“He’s kind of been waiting for his chance all year, and he’s come in the last two games and done a great job,” senior Tom Davison said of Arnaoutakis.

In the second half, a botched trap by defender James Pounder in the 51st minute gave Lehigh’s Alex Weisberger a shot from the top of the 18-yard box. Keeper Michael Testa spilled a rebound, and Lehigh’s Kyle Evans put it away to make the score 3-1.

But this time, the Lions were there to respond. In the 59th minute, Heinbockel sent another service into the box, and the ball squirted loose to right back Fredrik Kongsli, who blasted home his team’s second goal.

The Lions’ equalizer came just five minutes later on a classy solo effort from Davison. After a goal-kick clearance, Davison pounced on the returning header and took only one touch into the box before slipping to Lehigh keeper Brian Lee’s right.

“I needed one. I haven’t scored one all season,” Davison explained.

With all of the momentum, it took just three minutes in overtime for the Lions to find their golden goal. Taking a corner from the right, senior Drew Ford whipped in a left-footed cross into the box where Huston lunged to head it into the far right post of the goal, winning the game for his team, 4-3.

“We knew we needed an early goal, and it was just a perfect ball from Drew,” Huston said. “It feels phenomenal—it’s real good.”