TOWSON, Md. - Senior midfielder Marco Mangione recorded the second multi-goal game of his college career by scoring two goals as the Tigers (4-0-0) won their fourth straight game, a 2-1 non-conference victory over Lehigh University (2-2-1) at the Towson Center Soccer Complex on Sunday afternoon.
With the win, the Tigers are off to their best start since the 1995 season when Towson began the year with an 8-0-0 record.
Mangione gave the Tigers a 1-0 lead midway through the first half when he converted a penalty kick after being tackled by senior defender James Graf inside the penalty area.
Less than a minute into the second half, the Mountain Hawks tied the game at 1-1 when junior Joe Puleo scored his team-leading fourth goal of the season off an assist from junior Daniel Odenwelder.
But, the Tigers responded just over 11 minutes later when Mangione scored his third goal of the season off a rebound of a shot by freshman forward Kay Banjo that hit the crossbar.
Making the first start of his college career, freshman goalkeeper Angelo Viteritti made one save for the Tigers, who held Lehigh to just nine shots.
Senior goalkeeper Jonathan Nydell made five saves for the Mountain Hawks, who are winless in their last two games.
The Tigers will continue their five-game homestand on Wednesday afternoon when they host Longwood University at 4 p.m. Meanwhile, Lehigh will continue its four-game road trip on Friday afternoon against Furman.
College Men's Soccer: Towson University 2, Lehigh University 1
Lehigh (2-2-1) 0-1 / 1
Towson (4-0-0) 1-1 / 2
Goals: LEH - Joe Puleo 1 (45:29); TOW - Marco Mangione 2 (23:28 - pk, 56:41). Assists: LEH - Daniel Odenwelder 1; TOW - Kay Banjo 1. Saves: LEH - Jonathan Nydell 5 (90:00, 2 goals allowed); TOW - Angelo Viteritti 1 (90:00, 1 goals allowed), TEAM 1. Shots: LEH - 9; TOW - 15. Corner Kicks: LEH - 4; TOW - 8. Attendance: 201.
TIGER TIDBITS: The Tigers have scored first in each of their four games this season ... Towson has won three straight over Lehigh and leads the all-time series by a 5-3-2 margin ... Mangione has now converted all four penalty kick attempts in his career ... He was 3-for-3 last year prior to converting the attempt against Lehigh on Sunday ... Mangione's other two-goal game came last year in a victory over Old Dominion.
