BETHLEHEM, Pa. – No. 18 Lehigh will take its five match unbeaten streak and travel to Washington, D.C. on Saturday afternoon to take on American in a re-match of last season’s Patriot League Championship game.
The Mountain Hawks, who are currently ranked second in the Mid-Atlantic Region, have not played since defeating league foe Holy Cross on October 1 in
Worcester, by a score of 2-1 on junior
John O’Reilly’s penalty kick in the 73rd minute.
The win was Lehigh’s first over the Crusaders since 1998.
The last time Lehigh (6-1-1, 2-0) played at American (2-6-1, 1-1) in a regular season match, which was in 2003, the Brown and White came away with a 2-0 shut out.
The Mountain Hawks have received contributions from a number of players on offense this season, and as a team, currently lead the Patriot League in goals per game at 1.88. Individually, senior Adam Williamson ranks third in the league in shots at 28 and fourth in points with nine. Classmate Jim Stevens is tied for fifth in the league with eight points, and the Virginia native sits in a tie for third in goals scored with four. O’Reilly and Williamson are tied for seventh in the Patriot League with three goals apiece. Senior Peter Classi has added two goals thus far, while Patrick Cucci and a pair of freshmen, Adam Gazda and Patrick Cucci, have all scored one goal each.
Williamson is tied for third in the league with three assists, and the New Jersey native is tied with O’Reilly for second with two game-winning goals apiece. Both of O’Reilly’s game-winning scores have come via the penalty kick, and for the season, the Mountain Hawks are a perfect three-for-three in that category.
On defense, sophomore Charlie Sales helps to anchor a defense that is first in the league in goals allowed at just four, and second in shut outs with five. The Mountain Hawks are also ranked fifth in the nation in shots on goal percentage, seventh in team goals against average, and 13th in both shutout percentage and won-lost-tied percentage. Sales leads the league in goals against average, and is second in save percentage. Along with Sales, Elliot Leonard, Matt Franz, Tom Zubulake, Jose Larin, Kevin Deger, O’Reilly and Joe Verdi have helped to once again make the Mountain Hawks one of the toughest teams to score on in the entire country.
American has struggled of late, losing its last two matches to Loyola and league foe Navy. The Eagles do own a win over Lafayette in league play, which was a 2-1 victory in double overtime, coming on September 24 in D.C. American is currently 2-1 at home this season, and is led by Garth Juckem (4 goals, 3 assists, 11 points), Sal Caccavale (4 goals, 8 points) and Larry Mark (3 goals, 2 assists, 8 points) on offense. In goal for the Eagles, Chris Sedlak has seen the majority of playing time, recording 22 saves in 757 minutes of action, registering a 1.31 goals against average along the way.
Saturday’s match is scheduled to get underway at 2:30 and will be broadcast live on American’s website. To listen to the match, click here.
