Lehigh University Athletics
Looking back on 2003
12/5/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
The Mountain Hawks finished their season up by dropping a 2-0 decision to archrival Lafayette in the Patriot League Final. Lehigh stepped up their performance towards the end of the season to gain an important win over Navy, which was the win they needed to make it into the Patriot League Tournament. The Mountain Hawks then took on the first seed and host school Bucknell in the first round, where Lehigh dominated the field resulting in an impressive 2-0 victory. Although Lehigh fell short in its efforts against Lafayette, the Mountain Hawks managed to finish the season with a notable 9-4-7-season record. The seven ties recorded by Lehigh is a school and league record. This marked the eighth consecutive season that Lehigh has finished with a winning record, which is both a Patriot League and Lehigh school record. This fully demonstrates the winning attitude and atmosphere that head coach Dean Koski has incorporated here at Lehigh in his 12 years at the helm.
The Mountain Hawks were ranked by various associations throughout the season, including topping out at number three in the Mid-Atlantic Region by the NSCAA Rankings. Lehigh also climbed up to number 30 in the nation in early October by College Soccer News, and all season long, the brown and white was in the top-15 nationally in numerous defensive categories. Lehigh was up to number three in goals against average (0.31), second in shutout percentage (0.78) and junior goalie Sam Bishop soared to fifth in the NCAA with a 0.31 goals against average.
Coach Koski reflects on the 2003 season: “I was pleased with our overall performance this past season. Although we felt frustrated by many of our ties, the reality is we went the better part of a month without losing and at this level that is significant. I felt that going into this season, we had a great deal to learn and many unanswered questions. With only Doug Cusick, Wes Roach and Steve Fisher (our three seniors), and Ben Gucciardi playing the same positions as last season, we had essentially seven guys playing either a new position or starting for the first time. With two new outside backs and a new keeper, I thought we competed remarkably well defensively.” Koski adds, “All in all we were probably three wins shy of an NCAA at-large bid which is three more goals during our five game tying streak. However, anytime you have more wins than losses, only four losses in 20 games and make it to the Patriot League Championship, I'd consider the season a success.”
Lehigh picked up its first wins of the season with shutouts over Rider and Hartford in early September at the Lafayette Soccer Classic in Easton. The wins were in large part due to the relentless efforts of Lehigh's defense, only allowing two shots for the entire game in both match-ups. Coach Koski says that the team’s success all starts with the defense, with everyone contributing in some way. "Our whole system is based upon how well we defend. It has been a complete team effort and we’ll need contributions from everyone the rest of the way." Lehigh continued its winning streak by defeating No.25 Penn in a rousing 1-0 overtime game. The Mountain Hawks defense remained strong, still yet to surrender a goal, resulting in an incredible 400-minute scoreless streak.
As the season continued, Lehigh was able to gain revenge on its 1-0 loss to Delaware in the previous year, by gaining an impressive 5-2 victory in a big road win. This time, the success was largely due to the offensive effort of the Mountain Hawks, who in this one game were able to outdo their entire goal output in the season up until that point. Coach Koski said this was an important win for the team. "Delaware has always been a tough match for us," said Koski. "To beat a regional team on the road like this, it’s great. And it was especially important to get some production from our forwards.”
Lehigh continued to persevere after a successful start to the season, as the Mountain Hawks came to a point where two consecutive games, against UMKC and Army, ended in a tie. The defensive performance continued to carry the team, as the offense struggled to find itself. Moving on, the Mountain Hawks stayed unbeaten, finishing their next three games against Bucknell, Long Island, and Colgate in a tie, but the Mountain Hawks struggled to win games. Although unbeaten in their last five match-ups, Lehigh's failure to break through with some wins resulted in some frustration on the part of the team and Coach Dean Koski. “We play well sometimes, and then we play like its still preseason. I give them points for coming back and getting back into it. Our problem right now is we are making it harder on ourselves than it needs to be. We have got to find a way to change that,” Koski said when asked about the team's recent string.
Towards the end of the season, senior co-captain Doug Cusick went down with a serious ankle injury, forcing him to miss the remainder of the season. It was a major blow to the Mountain Hawks defensive plan, to say the least. “Losing senior captain Doug Cusick for two games in the middle of the season and then the final four and a half games in the season was challenging. To the team’s credit, they were able to still find a way to get into the playoffs without Doug and more importantly, beat the best team in the league to reach the finals. We emptied "our tank" so to speak in that semi final game (against Bucknell) and I thought the biggest difference in the finals was Lafayette's nine seniors going against our two seniors. We sorely missed Cusick's leadership and play and I think the finals revealed this pretty clearly,” Koski explains.
As the season came to an end, the Mountain Hawks faced the Lafayette Leopards in a game where they needed to win to help secure a spot in the Patriot League Tournament. The defense was as solid as it had been all season long, however, in the end, Lehigh lost a heartbreaker to Lafayette by a score of 1-0. Fortunately, the Mountain Hawks were able to defeat Navy one week later. Lehigh found itself down early to the Midshipmen, but Kyle Hartman and Dustin Monahan both found the back of the net, which propelled the Mountain Hawks into the Patriot League tournament, for the fourth consecutive season. Junior Ben Gucciardi gives his thoughts on the past season: ” I thought the season was really a roller coaster for us. We started off so well and the expectations for the rest of the season were very high. I think in mid season we peaked, and kind of got stuck on a plateau that we never really got over. Our team really showed a lot of resiliency through out the year though. Every time except for once we rallied back from a goal down to tie or win the game, and when it came down to crunch time, we were able to get it done with big wins at the end of the season against Bucknell and Navy.” The success of the team would not be possible without the incredible efforts of junior goalkeeper Sam Bishop and senior center back Wes Roach, the backbone of a defense that had been able to successfully stifle opponents all season long. Lehigh's impressive record at this point did not go unnoticed, and they began to receive recognition for the hard work of their players. Both Bishop and Roach were honored with the Patriot League Defensive Player of the Week awards at different points in the season, while freshman Maciek (Magic) Serafin was named the Patriot League’s Rookie of the Week once as well. In addition, Bishop was named to College Soccer News National Team of the Week on October 5. The end of the season also brought home some hardware for the Mountain Hawks, as they placed five players on the All-Patriot League Teams. Seniors Doug Cusick and Steve Fisher were both first team selections, while senior Wes Roach, junior Sam Bishop and sophomore Peter Classi were each second-team picks. Fisher led the Mountain Hawks in scoring with eight goals and 16 points on the season. Cusick makes the All-Patriot League Team for the fourth consecutive year, but for the first time as a first team selection. Roach, Bishop and Classi are all first time selections. A co-captain, Roach capped off a brilliant career, in which he has started all 78 games, and in the process, has become one of the most reliable defenders Lehigh has seen in some time. Roach has continued to improve each season, capped off by his senior year, in which he was one of the toughest defenders in all of the Patriot League. Bishop, in his first year as a starter for the Mountain Hawks, has already tied a school record with nine shutouts this season. Head Coach Dean Koski is pleased to see the team be rewarded for its play this season. “This is certainly good individual recognition for our program," he said. Cusick also was selected to the Mid-Atlantic All-Region First-Team, a sign that the senior is well respected and thought of, even though he did not play in every game. Coach Koski agrees: "Considering that Doug missed six games due to injury his selection to the first team Mid-Atlantic Region speaks volumes about the impact he had in the games that he did play. We are pleased for Doug and any individual accolades our players receive are always a reflection of the team as a whole". Unfortunately, the end of the season brings an end to the extremely successful and exciting collegiate soccer careers of co-captains Doug Cusick and Wes Roach. The team is reluctant to see their captains go, but welcomes the opportunity to strengthen their play through their determination and hard work ethic. 2004 should be another season full of enthusiasm, anticipation, and satisfaction. Gucciardi will be one of the main components of the team next season, and he is already excited about getting to work for it. “Looking forward to next year, I have very high expectations for the team. I think this year has given a lot of people some valuable experience, and next year, we will be a very veteran laden team. Having that kind of age will help us elevate our game in the key moments. The talent returning is really excellent too. Our entire midfield returns, and we have a number of guys that have proven they can be successful in the back, also having goalie Sam Bishop again next year in goal is a huge plus. I expect big things from ‘Magic’ and a few of the other freshmen next year. I can’t wait to get back out there and to get some revenge against Lafayette. There is a lot to be done, but I think we have the commitment to do it.” Coach Koski looks ahead towards 2004: “We certainly aren't happy with getting to the finals two years in a row and not coming away with a championship, but we have a returning group of players who understand what a championship experience is all about and I believe their intentions are to do whatever is necessary to prepare for another winning campaign in 2004. Competing and winning a championship is always our primary goal and making the NCAA Tournament is right there as well.” - Story by Alina Kors, Sports Media Relations Assistant
Looking ahead towards next season, Lehigh returns everyone except the three seniors from the 2003 team. Although, Fisher, Cusick and Roach were extremely important to the Mountain Hawks, there are many reasons to believe that 2004 can be yet another successful year for the Lehigh men’s soccer program. Serafin will return as the leading scorer with three goals, while Monahan dished out a team high four assists. All-League goalkeeper Bishop will be back for what promises to be a stellar senior campaign, and Kyle Hartman, Kyle Hansen, Adam Williamson and Brandon Smith, among others, will all be returning after seeing significant time in 2003.
