BETHLEHEM, Pa. - The Manhattan Jaspers dropped a 2-1 match to the Lehigh Mountain Hawks on opening night of the 2014 season.
Goals from senior Ali Famili 14' and junior Jamie Luchini 33' provided the Mountain Hawks with a 2-1 lead after 45 minutes, one they would hold onto the rest of the way.
Famili's goal came fom the penalty spot, following a takedown in the Manhattan box. Junior transfer Abraham Bartoah brought a Lehigh attacker down at the edge of the area to the far right of Jaspers' sophomore goalkeeper Alex Coates McDowall. Coates McDowall guessed correctly, getting a piece of the penalty before it found the net to his right.
Nineteen minutes later, a great individual effort from Luchini saw Lehigh take a 2-1 lead. Luchini flew up the left side and passed one Manhattan defender before jockeying with a second and creating enough space to finish with a right footed curl inside far post.
For the Jaspers, senior Eugene Heerschap scored the first goal of the season just six minutes in to give the Jaspers an early 1-0 edge. Heerschap finished beautifully with a powerful left-footed strike from just inside the top of the 18-yard box. Junior captain Alex Shackley was credited with the assist after gently sliding the ball to Heerschap within range.
Toward the end of the first half, freshman Jose Meza had an opportunity to level, but his effort hit the outside netting left of goal. In the 55th minute, Manhattan had another attempt to draw level when Shackley rung a shot off the bar. The ball found the feet of freshman Greg Bohn, who attempted to curl a ball inside the far corner with his left foot, but a sprawling save by Lehigh freshman keeper Joe Bogan kept the score 2-1 Mountain Hawks.
The Jaspers had chances to knot the game in the waning stages of the contest with a free kick from about 20 yards with about 12 minutes to play, and a corner in the 89th minute, but could not find the equalizer.
Coates McDowall played very well for Manhattan, finishing the game with 11 saves.
Manhattan senior captain Tommy Amos was cautioned for an aggressive challenge near midfield in the 21st minute. Senior Jake Scavetta received a yellow card in the 52nd minute.
With the loss, the Jaspers remain winless in season openers dating back to 2004, when they defeated the Fordham Rams 1-0 at Gaelic Park.
After the game, Joe Hutter of gojaspers.com interviewed head coach Jorden Scott to get his thoughts on Manhattan's opening night match.
The Jaspers return to action Tuesday, Sept. 2, when they travel to Brooklyn to take on St. Francis. The opening kickoff is set for 7 p.m.