Lehigh Dominates Second Half to Defeat Loyola in Patriot League Opener
BALTIMORE – For 45 minutes, Lehigh were stuck in neutral. For the next 45, they looked like a team ready to make noise in the Patriot League.
The Mountain Hawks opened league play with a sharp 2-0 road win over Loyola Maryland at Ridley Athletic Complex on Saturday, riding a transformed second-half performance and another clean sheet from junior goalkeeper Anton Kinnunen.
Head coach Dean Koski didn’t sugarcoat the slow start.
“I thought we struggled in the first half to be consistent with the way we wanted to play, but we regrouped at halftime and thought we came out in the second half with better intentions,” the Ingrassia Family men’s head soccer coach said. “We did a better job of creating chances in the second half and did a good job defensively of shutting them down.”
At the break, it was 0-0 and a little uneasy for Lehigh (1-2-3, 1-0 Patriot League). Loyola (1-6, 0-1 Patriot League) had dictated more of the play, outshooting the visitors 6-2 and forcing Kinnunen into three saves before halftime. The junior handled everything, keeping the Greyhounds off the board and buying his side time to find a rhythm.
That rhythm arrived almost immediately after the restart.
Just three minutes into the second half, Lehigh finally carved Loyola open. Junior Bora Turker, quiet in the opening period, struck in the 48th minute for his first goal of the season. The move flowed through junior Aiden Gonzalez and first-year Alex Junquera, both credited with assists as Turker’s finish jolted the Mountain Hawks to life and silenced the home crowd.
With the lead, Lehigh didn’t retreat. They grew into the game.
Senior Thomas Robertson doubled the advantage in the 65th minute, tucking away his second goal of the season and putting a firm grip on all three points. From a tentative, low-volume attack in the first half to two goals inside 20 second-half minutes, the shift was clear.
“No game has been easy, and I think our guys have learned a lot early on this season,” Koski said. “We had good confidence going into this game and we’ll have a better confidence coming out of it.”
Loyola kept firing. The Greyhounds finished with a 15-10 edge in shots and a 5-2 margin in corners, but Lehigh’s defensive unit refused to crack. Kinnunen needed just one save after the interval, closing out his third consecutive shutout and the seventh clean sheet of his career.
Behind those numbers was a back line that read the game well and stayed connected.
“Our backs and Anton are in sync with each other,” Koski said. “I like our mentality and we’re defending better in the box. And when we need Anton to make a save, he’s been there and he’s been sharp.”
For a team that stumbled out of the gate in non-league play, this was a statement: win on the road, manage pressure, finish chances, and walk away with a clean sheet to start the Patriot League campaign.
The reward is more than just three points. It’s momentum.
Lehigh now turns to its Patriot League home opener, hosting Army on Saturday, September 19 at 6 p.m., a matchup Koski already has circled.
“We’re glad to get three points on the road, but we know that every game is going to be a challenge for us,” he said. “We’ve got a big game next weekend against Army at home. They’ve had a good start, so it’ll be a good challenge.”
The standard has been set by a locked-in back line and a goalkeeper in form. The question now is simple: can the Mountain Hawks carry this second-half version of themselves into the heart of league play?
