Lehigh University Athletics
Lehigh completes another successful season
12/10/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
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“Having another winning season was important for the seniors, important for our alumni and important for our program,” said Koski. “Winning is important and having a successful program year in and year out sets at least one standard of achievement. However, not getting in the Patriot League playoffs and competing for a championship is a huge disappointment.”
Lehigh opened the season on the wrong foot, losing to Drexel at home in overtime. However, the team bounced back to win their next four games, including an overtime win over Big East opponent
They followed up those four games with back-to-back ties, coming at Penn and at home against Fordham, before beginning league play at
Against the Leopards, Lehigh gave up an early goal in the 14th minute, and that proved to be the difference as
The Mountain Hawks would bounce back at home against Navy, the following game, led by a three goal outburst by sophomore forward Kyle Evans. It was the first career hat trick for Evans and one goal short of the school’s single game record.
Lehigh played its next four games on the road, traveling to
The Brown and White returned home against Army and it was Evans once again providing the offense, scoring both goals in a 2-0 win. That victory set up a showdown at Bucknell, on national television, for positioning in the playoffs. A win for Lehigh would mean they control their own destiny for the final playoff spot; however, a loss would knock them out of contention.
Bucknell struck first to set the momentum early, scoring in the second minute of play. Lehigh had a couple of chances to strike back, but Bison’s goalie Joey Kuterbach proved to be up to the test, making some great saves, and kept the game at 1-0 heading into halftime.
Bucknell started the second half much the same as the first, with a quick score to give the Bison a 2-0 lead, in the 49th minute of play. The Bison put an end to any thoughts of a Lehigh comeback with a third goal in the 62nd minute. The Mountain Hawks did tack on a late goal, but it was not enough as Bucknell came away with a 3-1 win and eliminated Lehigh from post-season consideration.
The team bounced back in their final two games, picking up wins over
This year’s team featured the highest scoring offense in the Patriot League, led by forwards Evans and Jim Taranto. Evans finished the year leading the league in shots (47), points (25), points per game (1.47), goals (11) and goals per game (0.65). The sophomore was also nationally ranked in points per game (25th) and goals per game (19th). He finished the year with the most points by a Lehigh player since 2000 and was named to the first team All-Patriot League.
One of the main reasons for Evans’ success was the play of fellow forward Jim Taranto. The junior finished tied for the league lead with five assists and tied for fifth with 15 points. Of
“I believe that we were successful offensively because we had, arguably, two of the best forwards in the league and Kyle Evans had a great year offensively,” said Koski. “Interestingly, but not surprisingly, almost in all the games we lost, particularly league games, Kyle didn't score.”
While the Mountain Hawks found success on the offensive end, they struggled to find their footing defensively. An area where Lehigh usually excels, having been nationally ranked in the previous two season, the Brown and White were ranked sixth in the Patriot League in goals against average (1.2) and last in save percentage (0.625).
“Defensively, we were inexperienced, with Mike Hessemer being the only experienced and seasoned defender returning from last year and he played on the opposite side too,” added Koski. “We introduced three new backs and two new goalkeepers to our system all of whom had no Division I playing experience. Our lack of experience, leadership in the back and consistency in goal hurt us this year.”
The Mountain Hawks also faced a very tough road schedule, traveling to playoff teams Lafayette and Bucknell, first place Holy Cross and nationally ranked
“I think we were unfortunate in our game versus
“We also can't ignore not having Adam Gazda, our attacking midfielder and captain, for the year and losing our incumbent starter in goal, Chris Varga, was a set back as well. Some things just conspired against us from the start of the year.”
