Box Score

PHILADELPHIA - The La Salle defense was solid and goalkeeper John McCarthy made a few beautiful saves as the Explorers played Lehigh to a scoreless tie after two overtime periods on Tuesday night at McCarthy Stadium.

Lehigh, currently ranked No. 4 in the Mid-Atlantic Region, had its two-game win streak snapped. This marks the second straight scoreless tie for the two squads, which faced each other last year up in Bethlehem.

The Mountain Hawks (3-1-3) tried to get on the board early when Dan Odenwelder took a shot that was blocked. Jeff Pio returned the favor in the 10th minute, shooting a fast-moving grounder toward the Lehigh goal that sailed just wide. After that, the majority of play in the first half stayed near mid-field in a very back-and-forth contest.

One of McCarthy's saves came in the 38th minute when Lehigh's Kevin Strunk blasted the ball toward the left side of the net, which McCarthy made a beautiful diving save and just got a piece of it to deflect away from the net.

The story was much of the same in the second half, with both teams having strong chances to get on the scoreboard including Neil Melchionni's bounce off the post for the Mountain Hawks in the 81st minute and a shot by Jason Plumhoff in the 88th minute that was stopped by Lehigh keeper Ciaran Nugent.

Lehigh put up four shots in the first overtime period, two of which were McCarthy saves. Both teams managed just one shot apiece in the second overtime to preserve the scoreless tie.

McCarthy earned the shutout in goal, playing all 110 minutes and stopping seven shots. Nugent also recorded the shutout, making three saves.

Lehigh held the edge on shots, 15-11, with Melchionni and Joe Puleo each recording three. Pio also recorded three shots for the Explorers. The Explorers owned a 3-1 advantage on corner kicks.

The Explorers (1-5-1) head back on the bus this weekend when they travel to Emmitsburg, Md., for a 1:00 PM tilt at Mount St. Mary's on Saturday (9/24).

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