iStockphoto / Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports
Lehigh mascot net to soccer ball in the back of the net
The nature of the clock in most soccer games means it’s not really possible for a team to score a literal buzzer-beater. However, they are possible at the college level, and Lehigh managed to tally an incredible one to secure a win over Boston University while punching its ticket to the Patriot League conference championship game.
There are a number of reasons soccer has struggled to catch on in America in the way it has in the many countries where it’s far and away the most popular sport, and the sport’s approach to timekeeping is definitely part of the learning curve compared to pastimes like football, basketball, and hockey.
All of the sports in that group featured a descending clock that can be stopped for various reasons before play immediately ceases when it hits zero.
However, most soccer games feature a running clock and a referee who accounts for pauses by adding stoppage time, which can be a fairly arbitrary number that may not end up reflecting how much extra soccer is actually played when everything is said and done due to the power the main official wields.
That is not the case with college soccer in the United States, which harnesses a countdown method where halves (and games) come to an end as soon as the final horn blows. That can lead to some nail-biting moments, including the one we were treated to when Lehigh faced off against Boston University in the Patriot League tournament on Tuesday night.
Lehigh advanced to the Patriot League conference championship by scoring a goal as the clock expired in double overtime
The Patriot League is comprised of ten men’s soccer teams that play a single game against every other member of the conference each season in order to determine which six teams end up earning the right to compete for a title.
This year, Lehigh managed to qualify for the postseason as a four-seed with a 5-3-1 conference record, as they advanced from the first round of a tournament where the top two teams get a bye after beating Lafayette over the weekend.
They subsequently made the trek up to Boston University on Tuesday to face off against a Terrier squad that had earned the top seed with a 7-2 record. The home team only needed six minutes to open up the scoring, but the Mountain Hawks were able to equalize in the 35th minute before we were treated to a stalemate that ended with the score sitting at 1-1 at the end of regulation.
Per NCAA rules that went into place in 2022, that meant both teams had to play a couple of 10-minute overtime periods ahead of a potential shootout, and it sure looked like there was going to be one when you consider they were still tied up with less than ten seconds to go in the second one.
However, Shea Coughlin scrambled to take the corner kick Lehigh was awarded as the clock hit single digits, and he got it off with less than five seconds to go before Trey Sheeler headed the cross in the back of the net just before time expired to clinch the stunning victory.
A MIRACLE IN BOSTON! TREY SHEELER WINS IT FOR LEHIGH!!!!!!!
#GoLehigh https://t.co/y0GO9JCNEI
— Lehigh Men’s Soccer (@LehighMSoccer) November 11, 2026
The goal sent Lehigh to the conference championship game for the second year in a row, and they’ll have the chance to secure a title against Bucknell on Saturday.