Mountain Hawks ranked 18th, 20th in pair of preseason top 20 rankings

BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Following its second straight trip to the Patriot League Championship Game (and fifth in the last eight seasons), the Lehigh men's lacrosse has been ranked 18th in the Nike/US Lacrosse Division I Men's Preseason Top 20 and 20th in Inside Lacrosse's Face-Off Yearbook Top 20, as announced on Tuesday. Despite losing a large number of impact seniors, the Mountain Hawks return a great deal, along with a strong incoming class. Lehigh's nonleague schedule includes a pair of Final Four teams – defending national champion Virginia and Big Ten champion Penn State, who are ranked in the top two of both rankings.

In the US Lacrosse rankings, Lehigh is the second highest Patriot League team behind Loyola (15) and ahead of Army West Point (20). In the Inside Lacrosse rankings, the Mountain Hawks come in below Loyola (14) and Army West Point (15). This marks the second straight season Lehigh has been ranked in both preseason polls, coming in at No. 13 for both polls last season.

Despite several significant injuries, the Mountain Hawks advanced to the championship game last season where they dropped a hard-fought 11-7 final. Lehigh posted a perfect 6-0 March, including three consecutive wins over nationally-ranked opponents. The Mountain Hawks bounced back from a tough April to win a 10-9 thriller over Boston University in the Patriot League Semifinals.

Lehigh loses seniors like defenseman Craig Chick (the NCAA's all-time leader in caused turnovers) and attackman Lucas Spence (who posted 111 points over the last two seasons), but return plenty of talent. Included among the returnees is honorable mention All-American Conor Gaffney at faceoff, two-time All-Patriot League honoree Teddy Leggett at long-stick defensive midfield, All-League short-stick defensive midfielder Christian McHugh and two-year starting goaltender James Spence. Andrew Pettit, the team's leader for goals (46) and points (66) from in 2018, is also set to return after missing all of last season due to injury. The Mountain Hawks' incoming freshman class also features three of the top 65 players in Inside Lacrosse's Power 100: Christian Mule' (44), John Sidorski (53) and Justin Tiernan (64).

The 2020 season begins on Saturday, Feb. 8 against Utah with opening faceoff set for 1 p.m.

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Inside Lacrosse Face-Off Yearbook Top 20
1 Virginia
2 Penn State
3 Yale
4 Maryland
5 Penn
6 Duke
7 Notre Dame
8 Syracuse
9 Ohio State
10 Denver
11 North Carolina
12 Cornell
13 Johns Hopkins
14 Loyola
15 Army
16 Georgetown
17 High Point
18 Towson
19 UMass
20 LEHIGH

Nike/US Lacrosse
Division I Men's Preseason Top 20

1. Penn State

2. Virginia

3. Yale

4. Maryland

5. Duke

6. Notre Dame

7. Syracuse

8. Johns Hopkins

9. Denver

10. Penn

11. North Carolina

12. Cornell

13. Ohio State

14. UMass

15. Loyola

16. Rutgers

17. Villanova

18. LEHIGH

19. Towson

20. Army

Completed Event: Men's Lacrosse at #1 Army on May 1, 2026 , Loss , 6, to, 13

Completed Event: Men's Lacrosse at #3 Boston University on April 28, 2026 , Win , 16, to, 15

Completed Event: Men's Lacrosse at Lafayette College on April 24, 2026 , Win , 14, to, 12

Completed Event: Men's Lacrosse versus Navy on April 18, 2026 , Win , 19, to, 7

Completed Event: Men's Lacrosse at Colgate University on April 10, 2026 , Loss , 7, to, 9

Completed Event: Men's Lacrosse at #4/5 Princeton University on March 31, 2026 , Loss , 8, to, 15

Completed Event: Men's Lacrosse at #18/19 Army on March 28, 2026 , Loss , 11, to, 14

Lehigh University Athletics

Mountain Hawks ranked 18th, 20th in pair of preseason top 20 rankings

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Players Mentioned

Craig Chick

Conor Gaffney

Teddy Leggett

Christian McHugh

Andrew Pettit

James Spence

Lucas Spence

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