Oct. 20, 2007
WASHINGTON - The American University men's soccer team scored twice within 50 seconds in the first half and senior goalkeeper Chris Sedlak stopped seven shots to keep the Eagles undefeated and atop the Patriot League standings with a 2-0 win over Lehigh Saturday at Reeves Field.
Lehigh took it to the Eagles right from the starting whistle, firing the first nine shots of the game. However, Sedlak was up to the task, making one stop and corralling several other crosses. Finally, in the 30th minute, junior forward Anthony Moy received a pass in the right flank and dribbled into the box, where he was taken down by a Lehigh defender. The Eagles were awarded a penalty kick, and junior midfielder Phil Purdy took it, burying it in the top right corner from 12 yards out. It was the Eagles' first shot of the game.
"We were flat," Head Coach Todd West said, explaining his team's early-game start. "But the goal got us started."
Just as both teams were restarting from that goal, the Eagles gained possession again and this time freshman defender Mark Wysocki found Jake Van Yahres in the same right flank. He went one-on-one near the corner flag, deking his defender and making him slip down. Van Yahres then moved into the box, beat another defender with a right- to left-foot crossover move, and then immediately fired a left-footed blast low to the near side, arching it around the post.
American scored on its first two shots of the game. In fact, AU only shot six times all game, with three on net, compared to Lehigh's 25 shots. Sedlak was there to take care of all seven of the Mountain Hawks' shots that were on net, his second-highest single-game save total of the season. Six of Sedlak's seven saves came after the Eagles took their 2-0 lead. Meanwhile, the shutout gave him five for the season, a single-season career-high, and 14 for his career.
"They were getting at us, especially at it was 2-0," West said. "[Sedlak] came up huge and made some great saves."
With the win, American takes over the lead in the Patriot League standings, at least for one day. The Eagles now have 10 points, with a win worth three points and a tie worth one. That puts them ahead of both Bucknell and Colgate, both of which are at 2-01 for seven points. The Bison and Raiders meet tomorrow, and depending on the result it could either be a two-way tie atop the standings or the Eagles could take over sole possession of first place.
The Eagles will look to remain undefeated in league play when they visit Holy Cross on Saturday, Oct. 27 for a 7 p.m. start.
