Lehigh Dominates Loyola with Strong Second Half in Patriot League Opener
BALTIMORE – For 45 minutes, Lehigh never really found its rhythm. For 45 minutes, Loyola Maryland asked most of the questions.
By the final whistle at Ridley Athletic Complex, the only numbers that mattered were on the scoreboard: Lehigh 2, Loyola 0, and three Patriot League points heading back to Bethlehem.
Final Score: Lehigh 2 - 0 Loyola
Head coach Dean Koski didn’t sugarcoat the opening half.
“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.”
Lehigh (1-2-3, 1-0 PL) and Loyola (1-6, 0-1 PL) went into the break locked at 0-0. The Greyhounds carried the edge in tempo and chances, outshooting the Mountain Hawks 6-2.
Key Player
The difference between stalemate and setback? Junior goalkeeper Anton Kinnunen.
He turned away three Loyola efforts in the first half, reading crosses cleanly and handling shots with assurance to keep the hosts off the board and give his side a platform to grow into the game.
Second Half
The shift came quickly after halftime.
Lehigh’s attack, muted for most of the opening period, suddenly snapped into gear. In the 48th minute, junior Bora Turker finally cracked Loyola’s resistance, burying his first goal of the season. Junior Aiden Gonzalez and first-year Alex Junquera combined to set up the chance, and Turker did the rest to hand Lehigh a 1-0 lead and change the feel of the afternoon.
The goal settled the Mountain Hawks. It also stung Loyola.
With space opening up and Lehigh now playing with purpose, the visitors struck again. In the 65th minute, senior Thomas Robertson doubled the advantage, slotting home his second goal of the season and putting a firm grip on the league opener.
“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 swinging. The Greyhounds finished with a 15-10 edge in shots and a 5-2 advantage in corners, pushing numbers forward in search of a lifeline.
Lehigh’s response was a collective defensive stand.
Kinnunen added one more save after the break to finish with four on the day, calmly securing his third consecutive shutout and the seventh clean sheet of his career. In front of him, the back line repelled crosses, blocked lanes, and cleared danger when Loyola tried to flood the box.
“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.”
The win gives Lehigh a strong launchpad in Patriot League play and extends a growing identity: organized at the back, opportunistic when chances finally fall.
Looking Ahead
Next comes a different kind of test.
Lehigh returns home on Saturday, September 19 at 6 p.m. for its Patriot League home opener against Army, a side Koski knows will not arrive quietly.
“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 clean sheets are stacking up. The confidence is rising. Now the question is how far this defensive steel can carry Lehigh once Army steps into Bethlehem.
