Late Goal Lifts Lehigh Past Yale

by Tim Bennett
October 17, 2012

NEW HAVEN, Conn. – Yale head coach Brian Tompkins used the final non-conference game of the season Tuesday against Lehigh to shuffle his starting lineup and get a look at some of his younger players. Tompkins was happy with what he saw. Unfortunately, though, it didn’t keep the Bulldogs from being snakebitten around the goal.

James Meyerkord scored the only goal of the game with 2:10 left in the second half to lead the Mountain Hawks to victory on a chilly night at Reese Stadium.

“I was really pleased with their response,” Tompkins said of the youngsters. “I thought they brought good energy and attacked hard.”

The winning goal came when Meyerkord dribbled down the center and fired a hard left-shooted that went just inside the near post from 20 yards out.

“Moments change games, and we have had a devil of a time finding a moment to turn a game our way,” Tompkins said.

It wasn’t for lack of opportunities. In fact, it looked like Yale had that moment early in the second half when Peter Jacobson’s header found the back of the net, but the play was ruled off sides.

A nifty forward ball from Jenner Fox to Avery Schwartz gave the Bulldogs another chance a few minutes later. Schwartz got off a hard shot that went just high.

“It’s almost seems like there is a force field around the goal,” Tompkins said.

Lehigh, which won its second straight game, outshot Yale 17-13, but the quality scoring chances were virtually even.

Blake Brown made his first start of the season in goal for the Bulldogs and made three saves in the first half. Sam Obletz played the final 45 minutes, his first career appearance, and stopped two shots.

Yale is back in action on Saturday, hosting Penn at 3 p.m. at Reese Stadium.

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