Lehigh University Athletics
Koski announces Mountain Hawks' 2011 soccer schedule
6/30/2011 7:15:00 PM | Men's Soccer
BETHLEHEM, Pa. - Lehigh head coach Dean Koski has announced the Mountain Hawks' 2011 men's soccer schedule, revealing a slate that features eight home games and match-ups with five teams that qualified for the NCAA Tournament in 2010. The schedule also includes trips to five different states; including the program's first-ever visit to California.
“What we try to do is create a schedule that gets us out of the region,” explained Koski, who begins his 20th season as head coach. “Not only do we want to compete against different teams, but teams that come from very competitive conferences. To be able to go out west for the first time in program history and play programs like Cal and Stanford is huge for our program. It's a signature year for us to see how we stack up against teams from the west coast. We're very excited about that but we know what we're up against.
Koski continued, “We've always looked at it as: regardless of what team we have, we want to schedule the best teams that we can. We'll never say no to anybody. If there's a good team that we have a mutual open date we'll go out of our way to make that happen. There's no rhyme or reason to have five NCAA teams on this year's schedule, we just want to get the best teams that we can. Some years that works out for us, some years it doesn't. I like the balance in this schedule.”The Mountain Hawks will kick off the 2011 season at home against the Stony Brook Seawolves on Saturday, August 27 at the Ulrich Sports Complex. Lehigh has won its last three season openers. The Mountain Hawks will face the Seawolves for just the second time, as the Brown and White captured the first meeting 1-0 in 2008.
Following a trip to Fordham on August 31, Lehigh will open up September at home against Yale, the first of three Ivy League sides on the schedule on Sunday September 4.
Lehigh will then head to the west coast for the first time to take part in the CAL Legacy Classic, September 9 and 11 in Berkeley, Calif. The Mountain Hawks will open up the weekend against the host Golden Bears of California. The Golden Bears have been to the NCAA tournament in nine of the last ten years. Last year, Cal went 14-2-4, earned the No. 6 seed in the NCAA tournament, and advanced to the quarterfinals, before being eliminated on penalties by eventual national champion Akron. Lehigh will close out the weekend against Cal's arch rival, Stanford. The Mountain Hawks opened the 2009 season with a 2-1 win over the Cardinal in Bethlehem.
“You play a completely different kind of soccer,” Koski said. “Both teams will be very possession oriented. Both teams will have players in their programs that will end up in MLS. A lot of things we will see out on the west coast are distinctly different than what we see here on the east coast, but any time you have aspirations to be in the NCAA tournament, you have to look at different teams. Stanford has told me they learned a lot from their east coast trip to Lehigh and Rutgers in 2009.”
When the Mountain Hawks return home, they will square off against their second 2010 NCAA opponent in defending MAAC Champion St. Peter's, September 16 at the Ulrich Sports Complex. From there, Lehigh will visit La Salle on September 20, before opening up Patriot League play against defending tournament champion Bucknell on September 24.
The Bucknell contest kicks off seven consecutive Saturdays of Patriot League regular season play. Lehigh's league home opener will be October 1 against Colgate, while October 8 marks the annual Lehigh-Lafayette rivalry showdown with this year's edition being played in Easton.
Lehigh will then play three straight games at home, taking on 2010 NCAA tournament team Penn on October 11, Patriot League foe Navy on the 15th and schedule newcomer Albany on October 18.
The homestand will be followed by three consecutive road games, at league rivals Holy Cross (Oct. 22) and American (Oct. 29) plus Lehigh's fifth game against a 2010 NCAA tournament side, as the Mountain Hawks visit Princeton on November 1. Lehigh will then return home for its final regular season game against Army on November 5.
Koski offered his thoughts on the Patriot League portion of the schedule, “We have three tough teams that we open up with; three that historically are always in contention for the league title. We are not looking past any one of them or making any assumptions about who the top teams will be. There are other teams in this league that are vastly improved. It's going to be a battle for all seven games.”
Lehigh returns nine starters, including its top three scorers for the 2011 season. The Mountain Hawks will open the campaign against Stony Brook at the Ulrich Sports Complex, Saturday August 27 at 7 p.m.
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