QUEENS, N.Y. – A 44th-minute goal from Tommy Dokho proved to be the different at Belson Stadium as Lehigh withstood a flurry of late St. John University shots chances to register a 1-0 men’s win in front of 1,180 Tuesday night.
Lehigh goalkeeper Will Smith made five of his seven saves in the second half, holding off an attack 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, but failed to score. 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 cross from Matt Forster.
St. John’s outshot Lehigh (2-2-0), 13-7, including a 10-3 margin in the second half. Five of the Red Storm’s 10 second-half opportunities were on target.
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.
Red Storm goalkeeper Tyron Matuta made three saves.
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 in the 44th minute.
The Mountain Hawks began the sequence with a long ball into the attacking 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 net, where it was picked up by Lehigh’s Ikem Mbalwe. Mbalwe played it in front for Dokho, who sent it above Mpofu and into the back of the net.
St. John’s travels to Philadelphia for a 7 p.m. Saturday showdown with Temple University.
