Lehigh University Athletics
Mountain Hawks several days into preseason practice
1/22/2020 4:34:00 PM | Men's Lacrosse
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – The preseason top 20 Lehigh men's lacrosse team began practice last weekend as the Mountain Hawks prepare for their season opener on Saturday, Feb. 8 vs. Utah. Lehigh kicked things off with their first practice on Friday, working hard over the weekend to help set a foundation before classes began Monday. Having advanced to two consecutive Patriot League Championship Games, hopes remain high in 2020 despite losing a talented senior class to graduation.
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"Things have been going great. It's good to get back and get after it," said Lehigh head coach Kevin Cassese on Sunday afternoon. "It's been a little bit of a longer layoff for us than usual. It's been almost 50 days since our last training day way back on December 2. It's great to get back after it. We've had four practices over the first three days (Friday, Saturday and Sunday)."
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"The first few practices are a lot of reminders, a lot of review of what we did throughout the fall," said Cassese. "Our goal is to get to the point where we left off in the fall when we played Syracuse to end our fall ball. We felt like we were in a really good spot at that point, so the goal is to get back to that point before we play Saint Joseph's in our scrimmage (Feb. 1) then use the first game week to take it a step further and fully progress."
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The 2020 Mountain Hawks feature a strong blend of returning talent. The program lost All-Patriot League and All-America caliber seniors, but also bring in a talented freshman class which includes three of Inside Lacrosse's top 100 ranked freshmen (Christian Mule' at 44, John Sidorski at 53 and Justin Tiernan at 64).
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The talented freshman class will join a returning group that includes five preseason All-Patriot League honorees (as announced on Monday).
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Between the veterans and youngsters, there's a common bond as a Lehigh men's lacrosse player – Work ethic – which is a minimum expectation to be part of the program.
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"It's obviously become a big staple for us here – working hard and how we work hard," said Cassese. "Just bringing the passion every single day, doing it with a lot of discipline and a lot of toughness. That's what we're all about. They've displayed that. It took them a bit of the first practice to get all that back and remind themselves of what we're supposed to do here, but I like the way they've gone about their business to date."
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Now that classes have begun, the student-athletes and coaches have started the routine that they hope leads them to continued success moving forward.
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"The beauty of practicing in the first weekend before classes begin is we have their undivided attention," said Cassese. "We can take our time with our meetings, not feel like we're rushed with guys coming from classes or having to get to classes. If there's something that doesn't go well in a drill, we can really take our time, pause and coach it, then go back over it and do some more reps.
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"Now, we have to be more calculated with meeting times, practice times, field time and all that, knowing they have a lot of other things going on in their lives," Cassese continued. "We're looking forward to establishing a routine of coming over for practice, meetings and film after classes."
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The Mountain Hawks have played in the Patriot League Title Game five times in the last eight years, and hope to work their way back to that spot, and win it for the first time since 2013. To reach that point, it takes a number of steps, with every step being important for the end goal.
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"It's going to be February and for us, we're still going to be pretty vanilla, as will most teams in the country," said Cassese. "This year more than ever, we're looking to play our best lacrosse as we move into March and April, and eventually hopefully into May."
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The Mountain Hawks will open the 2020 campaign on Saturday, Feb. 8 when they host Utah at 1 p.m.
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Like Lehigh men's lacrosse on Facebook, follow on Twitter and Instagram for continued updates on the Mountain Hawks.Â
ÂGallery: (1/22/2020) Men's Lacrosse Opens Practice
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"Things have been going great. It's good to get back and get after it," said Lehigh head coach Kevin Cassese on Sunday afternoon. "It's been a little bit of a longer layoff for us than usual. It's been almost 50 days since our last training day way back on December 2. It's great to get back after it. We've had four practices over the first three days (Friday, Saturday and Sunday)."
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The opening weekend served as an opportunity to dust off some cobwebs.Lacrosse is BACK. Take a look back to the opening weekend of practice... pic.twitter.com/IOqcITzIFV
— Lehigh Lacrosse (@LehighLacrosse) January 22, 2020
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"The first few practices are a lot of reminders, a lot of review of what we did throughout the fall," said Cassese. "Our goal is to get to the point where we left off in the fall when we played Syracuse to end our fall ball. We felt like we were in a really good spot at that point, so the goal is to get back to that point before we play Saint Joseph's in our scrimmage (Feb. 1) then use the first game week to take it a step further and fully progress."
Â
The 2020 Mountain Hawks feature a strong blend of returning talent. The program lost All-Patriot League and All-America caliber seniors, but also bring in a talented freshman class which includes three of Inside Lacrosse's top 100 ranked freshmen (Christian Mule' at 44, John Sidorski at 53 and Justin Tiernan at 64).
Â
The talented freshman class will join a returning group that includes five preseason All-Patriot League honorees (as announced on Monday).
Â
Between the veterans and youngsters, there's a common bond as a Lehigh men's lacrosse player – Work ethic – which is a minimum expectation to be part of the program.
Â
"It's obviously become a big staple for us here – working hard and how we work hard," said Cassese. "Just bringing the passion every single day, doing it with a lot of discipline and a lot of toughness. That's what we're all about. They've displayed that. It took them a bit of the first practice to get all that back and remind themselves of what we're supposed to do here, but I like the way they've gone about their business to date."
Â
Now that classes have begun, the student-athletes and coaches have started the routine that they hope leads them to continued success moving forward.
Â
"The beauty of practicing in the first weekend before classes begin is we have their undivided attention," said Cassese. "We can take our time with our meetings, not feel like we're rushed with guys coming from classes or having to get to classes. If there's something that doesn't go well in a drill, we can really take our time, pause and coach it, then go back over it and do some more reps.
Â
"Now, we have to be more calculated with meeting times, practice times, field time and all that, knowing they have a lot of other things going on in their lives," Cassese continued. "We're looking forward to establishing a routine of coming over for practice, meetings and film after classes."
Â
The Mountain Hawks have played in the Patriot League Title Game five times in the last eight years, and hope to work their way back to that spot, and win it for the first time since 2013. To reach that point, it takes a number of steps, with every step being important for the end goal.
Â
"It's going to be February and for us, we're still going to be pretty vanilla, as will most teams in the country," said Cassese. "This year more than ever, we're looking to play our best lacrosse as we move into March and April, and eventually hopefully into May."
Â
The Mountain Hawks will open the 2020 campaign on Saturday, Feb. 8 when they host Utah at 1 p.m.
Â
Like Lehigh men's lacrosse on Facebook, follow on Twitter and Instagram for continued updates on the Mountain Hawks.Â
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