BETHLEHEM, Pa. – The Mountain Hawks have enjoyed quite a bit of success in the first half of their 2006 campaign, going 8-1-1 overall and 3-0 in the Patriot League, including a seven-game unbeaten streak. While Lehigh has received multiple weekly awards from the Patriot League, the team is getting noticed at the regional and national levels. In the Mid-Atlantic Region poll, the Mountain Hawks are ranked No. 4 for the second straight week, as it was released on Tuesday. At the national level, the Mountain Hawks received votes in the College Soccer News Top 30 poll, as it was released on Monday.
Lehigh has been ranked in the regional polls since the start of the season, entering the poll at No. 10 in the first week of rankings. Since then, the Mountain Hawks have moved up significantly, coming in at No. 5 in the September 12 and 19 polls and then jumping into the No. 4 slot in last week’s poll. The only Patriot League team that ranks ahead of Lehigh is Colgate, who is No. 3. Topping the Mid-Atlantic poll is Fordham, who has occupied the top spot all season long, followed by Saint Louis. The Patriot League also occupies the fifth and sixth spots in the poll, with Bucknell and Lafayette placing in those spots, respectively.
It was not the first time the program received national recognition from College Soccer News this season, but it was the first time the entire team did. Earlier, senior Joe Verdi earned a spot on the College Soccer News Team of the Week. With the reception of national votes, Lehigh joined the likes of Saint Louis, Memphis and UNC-Greensboro in receiving votes. The Mountain Hawks were last nationally ranked in 2005 when they were No. 18 in the National Soccer Coaches Association of America poll.
The Mountain Hawks will look to continue their successful streak on Wednesday night when the Villanova Wildcats come to Bethlehem. Wednesday night’s game will be just the second meeting between Lehigh, who is 1-0-1 in mid-week games, and Villanova, who are 3-2-1 on the road and 3-0 in mid-week games. The last meeting was at NationsCredit Cup in 1995 where the teams played to a 1-1 tie. Game time is set for 7:00 pm with live audio and video on lehighsports.com with streaming provided by Yahoo! Sports. The game will be televised in the Lehigh Valley area on Wednesday night at 10:00 pm on Service Electric 2 Sports.
