WEST LONG BRANCH, N.J. – Lehigh defeated the Monmouth University men’s soccer team, 2-0, Monday night at Hesse Field on The Great Lawn. With the loss, the Hawks fall to 1-1-0, while the Mountain Hawks are now 2-0-0.

Sophomore goalkeeper Eric Klenofsky (Lincoln Park, N.J./DePaul Catholic) made four saves in defeat. His counterpart, Lehigh’s Ciaran Nugent earned the clean sheet with two stops.

The Hawks developed a pair of chances in the early going. Miguel Alves (Newark, N.J./St. Benedict’s Prep) rifled off a shot from 15 yards out to the left of the goal, but Nugent was there for the stop. Dan Pizzimenti (Manalapan, N.J./Christian Brothers Academy) had a chance in the 20th minute on a header, but again, Nugent was positioned for the save.

Klenofsky was challenged twice in the 24th and 25th minutes. The sophomore made a sprawling save on Austin Decker’s shot in the 24th minute, before coming off his line to break up a would-be scoring chance in the 25th. The game remained scoreless through 45 minutes.

The Mountain Hawks broke the tie in the 56th minute when Gianfranco Giammatteo sent a cross to the right post, finding Decker for a header. Klenofsky got a fingertip on the shot, but it wasn’t enough as the shot trickled over the goal line.

Lehigh added insurance in the 73rd minute, when John Marc Charpentier’s pass led Jamie Luchini to the top of the 18-yard box, where he shot through traffic and inside the right post to stake the Mountain Hawks to a 2-0 lead.

The Hawks return to action Sunday, when they travel to Albany. Kickoff is set for 2 p.m.