Lehigh University Athletics
Men's soccer to host Holy Cross Saturday night
10/10/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
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Neither Holy Cross nor Lehigh have lost a game in the Patriot League thus far in 2008. The Mountain Hawks carry a 1-0-1 league record into the matchup, while the Crusaders are 2-0-0. Lafayette and American are the only other unbeatens in the league, at 0-0-2 and 0-0-1, respectively.
While Lehigh head coach Dean Koski said it is too early to worry about the Patriot League standings, he said Holy Cross will present a serious challenge to the Mountain Hawks.
“They’ve established themselves as the toughest team to beat in the regular season,” Koski said. “We see them as the team to beat right now, and if we want to get into the tournament, we have to start putting some teams behind us.”
The Brown and White came away with an exciting 2-1 2OT victory against No. 19 Penn on Tuesday at the Ulrich Sports Complex. A 109th-minute goal by Kyle Evans, from 30 yards away, delivered Koski his 150th career victory as head coach of the Mountain Hawks.
Koski said he does not expect his team to feel any effects from Tuesday’s game – positive or negative – by the time it takes the field on Saturday.
“They’re mature enough that they did a good job of moving on,” Koski said. “We’ve had a good week of training and we’re ready to move forward.”
This is the 21st all-time meeting between the Mountain Hawks and Crusaders. The series has been tight, with Lehigh coming into the matchup with a 7-8-5 record overall. The Crusaders defended their home field with a 2-1 victory in 2007, but Lehigh will be happy to host the game, where it has not lost to Holy Cross since 2002.
The Mountain Hawks will not be able to rely on home field to put them over the top though. Koski expects his team will have to play its best to pull out a victory in front of the home fans.
“We will have to be diligent defensively and lock things down in our defensive half,” Koski said. “Offensively we have to do a good job of breaking down their defense.”
Live video coverage of the match can be seen on Lehighsports.com starting at 7 p.m. with Steve Lomangino providing the commentary.
