Lehigh University Athletics
Mountain Hawks prepare for Lafayette
9/19/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Track and Field, Track and Field, Women's Track and Field
Bethlehem, PA – The Lehigh-Lafayette rivalry ignites for the first time this fall when the two school’s square off in men’s and women’s cross country and women’s soccer. The Lehigh men’s programs have won more contests than Lafayette’s 29 times in the 36 years of the rivalry for a record of 29-1-6. Entering this year, the Leopards hold a 12-6-2 advantage over the Mountain Hawks in the women’s rivalry. All three events will take place on Friday. The cross country teams will battle on Goodman Campus, the men at 5:00 and the women at 5:45, while women’s soccer travels to Easton for a contest at 7:00. The match up of the women’s cross country teams should come down to the final runners. Lehigh features a well grouped attack that allows only :36 to elapse off the clock 1-5, led by junior Chrissy Boyd. The pack of Boyd, freshman Jenna Breidinger, senior Maureen Schaub, senior Edann Brady and freshman Jillian Koste, will try to break up the Leopard trio of Rian Landers, Bonnie Kretchick and Mary Gillis. "The women are in for a dogfight," head coach Deb Utesch said. "This is the fourth time we’ve ran against them this year and we’ve closed the gap every time. The key will be to break up their top three. If we can do that, we should be in good shape." The men, meanwhile, should have an easier time with Lafayette. The young, but talented, Mountain Hawks are led by a pair of former Patriot League Runners of the Week, freshman Rob Hampson and sophomore Mark Swanson. Six Lehigh runners crossed the finish line before a single Leopard did so. "The men’s goal is to sweep," Utesch observed. "The last time they had the perfect score of 15 was 1988. We’ve been getting enough guys in to do that in the other meets we’ve faced them, but with the rivalry, someone always steps up." Lehigh leads both all-time men’s series by a count of 42-32-1, while the Brown & White women look to even their record against Lafayette, which now stands at 9-8 in the Leopards’ favor. In the women’s soccer contest, Lehigh enters the game with an overall record of 3-7 and 0-1 in Patriot League play, while Lafayette is 5-3-1 and 1-0. The Mountain Hawks are coming off a hard fought 2-0 loss at the hands of Army, whereas the Leopards battled Siena to a scoreless draw. Goalkeeper Erin Iwaskiewicz has been the defensive stalwart, notching 66 saves for an impressive .805 save percentage. The total of 66 saves puts Iwaskiewicz on top of the Patriot League leader board. Offensively, for the Brown & White, leading scorer Lauren Day, who has two goals and an assist, will miss the rest of the regular season with a broken foot. Head coach Manny Oudin takes on the Leopards for the first time when the two teams battle for the 12th time on Friday. Lehigh leads the series 5-4-2. Both schools have held the home field advantage, Lehigh going 4-1-1 on its home turf, while Lafayette is 3-1-1 when the teams square off in Easton. "For us it's not only a big game because of the rivalry, but at this point in Patriot League play we need a positive result," Oudin said. "The team is excited. The fact that we are playing Lafayette increases the desire to win, but overall, we just want to win, no matter who it is against." For more information, please contact Geoff Goyne in the Lehigh Sports Media Relations office.
