BRONX, N.Y. – The Lehman College men's soccer team dropped a close, 2-1, decision to the College at Old Westbury on Wednesday evening on the South Field. The Lightning struck first in the wildly entertaining match, before the Panthers rallied with two goals in the last 45 minutes for the win.

With less than 15 minutes remaining in the opening half, senior midfielder Abraham Enahoro (Lagos, Nigeria/E.G.S.) guided the ball through a crowd of Old Westbury (4-0) defenders and connected with sophomore midfielder Essosa Aluyi  (Nagoya, Japan/Elmont Memorial), who beat the keeper one-on-one for his second goal of the year, to give the Lightning (0-4) a 1-0 advantage.

Senior Ronniel Mendez (Mantanzas, Cuba/Miami Southbridge) had several good scoring opportunities, only to be thwarted by the Old Westbury keeper. Meanwhile, Lehman's defense was aggressive in the first 45 minutes, holding the Panthers to just two shots.

Similar to the first half, Lehman had plenty of chances in the second, but could not capitalize and extend the lead. Old Westbury turned up the pressure in the second stanza, and scored two goals in a span of 28:22 to take a 2-1 lead. Old Westbury hung on to win the game by that score.

Lehman sophomore goalkeeper Jesus Marin (East Harlem, N.Y./Manhattan Village Academy) kept the Lightning in the game by stopping eight shots in the second half alone, and made nine saves overall. Several saves came in rapid succession, as he kept Lehman in the game.

The Lightning narrowly outshot the Panthers 17-16, and had a slim 8-7 advantage in corner kicks.

Lehman will be back in action on Monday, September 15, for a non-conference clash with the Roadrunners of Ramapo College, out in Mahwah, N.J. The match is scheduled to begin at 3:30 p.m.