Lehigh University Athletics
Lehigh to host American in Patriot League action
10/17/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
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“Our most important thing to do is to gain points,” Lehigh head coach Dean Koski said. “With one win and two ties under our belt, that’s five important points, but that’s not going to be enough to get us into the Patriot League tournament.”
This is the 13th meeting all time between the Mountain Hawks and Eagles. Lehigh trails the overall series 3-7-2, including a 2-0 loss last season in
The Eagles present a difficult challenge for the Lehigh defense, as American averages 13.36 goals per game and 1.27 goals per game in 2008.
“We need to come out and compete from the first minute like we did against
Fortunately for the Mountain Hawks, their offense has been even tougher to defend. Lehigh ranks first in the Patriot League with 1.82 goals per game and 1.45 assists per game. Senior forward Jim Taranto has had a tremendous statistical season so far, leading the league and ranking 16th in the nation with 0.55 assists per game and sitting in second place in the Patriot League with 1.27 points per game.
For Lehigh, it will be the team’s fourth game in the past two weeks, after battling some of the top teams in the country over the past three. The Mountain Hawks pulled an upset over then-No. 19 Penn at the Ulrich Sports Complex on October 7, battled the number one team in the Patriot League standings, Holy Cross, to a 0-0 draw at home on October 11 and lost a tightly-contested 2-1 match with No. 6 Maryland in College Park on Tuesday.
Patrick Cucci got the start at forward against the Terrapins, and the senior made the move pay off with his first goal of the season in the 53rd minute. The Mountain Hawks trailed in nearly every statistical category on Tuesday, but they were able to hold a lead into the waning minutes, despite being hit with four yellow cards and one red card, which forced them to play a man down for the final 26 minutes of regulation plus overtime.
Against American, Koski said Lehigh will have to look to players like Cucci again to provide the needed experience in this tough Patriot League matchup.
“We need our more experienced players who understand Patriot League competition to really step up and help carry us because they’ve been there before,” Koski said. “If you rely too much on your freshmen and sophomores there are just too many ebbs and flows in the game.”
Tune in to Lehighsports.com for live video coverage of the match beginning at 7 p.m.
