Lehigh Athletics Weekend Preview

Lehigh Athletics Weekend Preview

4/8/2021 9:00:00 PM | Baseball, Field Hockey, Football, Athletics, Men's Golf, Men's Lacrosse, Men's Soccer, Men's Tennis, Men's Track and Field, Men's Rowing, Softball, Women's Lacrosse, Women's Rowing, Women's Soccer, Women's Tennis, Women's Track and Field

BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Lehigh football and Lafayette meet Saturday in #Rivalry156, women's soccer hosts Loyola in a game with major Patriot League Tournament implications and the Lehigh lacrosse teams both host key games against Navy, highlighting another busy weekend around Lehigh Athletics. Catch up on all of it in this week's Lehigh Athletics Weekend Preview.
 
As announced March 5, The Lehigh University COVID-19 Response Team approved a request from the Athletics Department to permit a limited number (2) of Lehigh team guests (submitted in advance) to attend our outdoor home sports events, and enter the permanent seating area of our venues, which is well-defined by fencing and gates at some venues and that will be defined and secured at other venues.  The two guests will be expected to adhere to all University and Athletics Department health and safety protocols (PDF) throughout their visit to our Goodman Campus.  Visiting team guests are not permitted inside our venues at this time unless directly communicated to the visiting team for a specific event.
 
Baseball
The Mountain Hawks (10-7, 7-2 PL) are off to their best conference start in program history after a wild 7-6 walk-off victory over Lafayette Wednesday afternoon at Walker Field. Lehigh, fighting for first place in the league, will take on Bucknell (5-13, 5-9 PL) for a doubleheader Saturday in Lewisburg at noon followed by a single game at home on Sunday at 2 p.m. On Wednesday, Lehigh tallied nine hits as a team with a pair for both Casey Rother and Adam Retzbach. Rother's RBI single with no outs in the bottom of the 10th inning against the Leopards sealed the deal, scoring Gerard Sweeney for the win. Reigning Patriot League Rookie of the Week Andrew Nole went 1-for-3 with a two-RBI single in the sixth inning. Mason Black (3-1, 1.78 ERA) will look to continue his dominance against the Bison, recording a league-leading 54 strikeouts with just 10 walks over 35.1 innings in six starts so far this year. Bucknell is reeling following five straight losses including a four-game sweep at Holy Cross last weekend. Peter Marren leads the way offensively with a .359/.422/.455 slashline and 23 hits. Graeme Carroll (0-1, 1.80 ERA) has been dominant in eight relief outings with seven strikeouts and three walks. The Mountain Hawks took two of three against Bucknell earlier this season and will look for the season series victory this weekend.
Saturday: Live Stats
Sunday: Watch Live | Live Stats
 
Field Hockey
Lehigh heads outside the Lehigh Valley for the first time this season when the Mountain Hawks play at American on Sunday at 2 p.m. on ESPN+. Lehigh stands 2-1 on the season, winning at Lafayette (1-0) then beating Bucknell (4-0) and falling to Holy Cross (2-1) at home. Last Saturday, the Mountain Hawks held a 23-12 edge in shots and 15-3 advantage in penalty corners, but couldn't break through until late. With less than two minutes remaining, sophomore MJ Schwab scored for a second straight game (and third time in the last five games looking back to last season). Lehigh was able to secure a penalty corner in the final minute, but couldn't net the equalizer. At 2-1, the Mountain Hawks are in the thick of the Patriot League Tournament race with two games remaining. After Saturday's showdown with the Eagles, Lehigh concludes the regular season at Boston University on Sunday, Apr. 18. American enters with a 2-1 record, beating Bucknell (4-0), but then losing to Bucknell in overtime (2-1) and winning at Lafayette in overtime (2-1). On Sunday, the Mountain Hawks will be vying for their first-ever win against the Eagles.
Watch Live | Live Stats
 
Football
College football's most-played rivalry will take place for the 124th straight season as Lehigh travels to Lafayette for meeting 156. The Mountain Hawks have received a pair of impressive performances from their defense, but Lehigh has mustered just a field goal in two losses in the spring 2021 campaign. Lehigh fell at home to Bucknell 6-0 last Saturday. Lafayette enters the rivalry game at 1-1. The Leopards beat Colgate 24-10 in their opener and fell at Bucknell 38-13 two weeks ago. The game will be televised locally on Service Electric Network (Lehigh broadcast) and RCN (Lafayette broadcast) and streamed on ESPN+.
Complete Preview and Game Notes
 
Men's Golf
The Mountain Hawks opened their season with a ninth place finish at the April 3 Rolling Green Intercollegiate in Springfield, Pa. Sophomore David Hurly shot 71, tying for sixth place overall, and earned honorable mention recognition from the Patriot League on Wednesday. Next up for Lehigh is Villanova's Wildcat Invitational, April 12-13. The event has historically taken place at White Manor Country Club in Malvern, Pa. Freshman AJ Gilpin is expected to make his Lehigh debut, along with Lehigh's four upperclassmen and classmate Edmund Broderick.
 
Men's Lacrosse
One of just four undefeated teams in the nation, No. 7 Lehigh will host Navy on Saturday at 4 p.m. in a critical South Division matchup. Fresh off a thrilling 13-12 win over Army West Point – the program's second top 10 win of the season – the Mountain Hawks stand 5-0 on the season, 4-0 in the Patriot League and 2-0 in the South. The Mountain Hawks are riding high after their thrilling victory over the Black Knights in a rematch of the 2019 Patriot League Championship Game. Lehigh used an 8-3 run to take an 11-7 lead. Army responded with four straight, but junior Cole Kirst's fourth of the game with 2:02 remaining proved to be the winner. Senior James Spence made two of his 10 saves in the final minute to preserve the victory, marking the first time since 2012 that Lehigh has two top 10 wins in the same season. Navy enters Saturday with a 3-1 record, 1-1 in the Patriot League (both in the South). The Mids lead the all-time series (which dates back to 1910), 33-9, but the Mountain Hawks have won three straight and eight of the last 12.
Watch Live | Live Stats
 
Women's Lacrosse
Following a hard-fought 15-11 loss at No. 13 Loyola, the Mountain Hawks return home to face another ranked opponent, hosting No. 21 Navy on Saturday at 12 p.m. on ESPN+. In that Loyola game, Lehigh got out to leads of 3-1 and 4-2 before the Greyhounds staged a 5-0 run, which extended to 8-1. The Mountain Hawks fought back from a 10-5 deficit by holding Loyola scoreless for 22:08, at which time, Lehigh's offense scored four times to pull within 10-9. Senior goalkeeper Samantha Sagi made five of her eight saves in that 22-minute stretch. Graduate student Sondra Dickey and sophomore Katia Carnevale each finished the game with a hat trick. This Saturday's matchup with Navy is a big one, with the winner clinching the No. 2 seed in the South and a spot in the Patriot League Tournament. Navy fell 17-8 at home to No. 18 Drexel on Wednesday. Before that the Mids lost 14-6 to Loyola and won 13-12 over Army West Point. Navy leads the all-time series with Lehigh, 13-4. The Mountain Hawks won four of the first six meetings.
Watch Live | Live Stats
 
Rowing
The Lehigh women's and men's squads returns to the water on Saturday to face Loyola in a recently-added regatta. The Mountain Hawks were last scheduled to face the Greyhounds the Saturday after last spring season was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This season, the Lehigh women have three races under their belts so far (Saint Joseph's, Drexel and Bucknell) while the men have two (Drexel and Bucknell). Last weekend, Lehigh faced Bucknell in a series of four-minute pieces (women) and five-minute pieces (men). The Mountain Hawks' Men's Varsity Eight won two of the five pieces to lead the efforts.
 
Men's Soccer
Lehigh plays its last scheduled game of the season on Friday night, a rematch of the 2019 Patriot League Championship Game against Lafayette in Easton with kick-off set for 7 p.m. The Mountain Hawks (1-3-0, 1-3-0 PL South) have struggled as of late, dropping their last two games of the season and are officially out of postseason contention. The Leopards (5-0-0, 4-0-0 PL North) are fighting for a chance to go undefeated in the regular season and clinch a Patriot League North Division Title and a berth into the Patriot League Tournament. For the Mountain Hawks, three of the team's five goals on the season have been scored by Josh Luchini, who will miss Friday's game after receiving a red card against Navy last weekend. Jack Sarkos and Jonathan Blaine are credited with Lehigh's other two scores. In five games, Lafayette has netted 10 goals, including two apiece for Hale Lombard and Martin Ssessanga. Five other Leopards each have tallied a goal each. Junior goalkeeper Alex Sutton has a 1.00 GAA in five starts this year.
Watch Live | Live Stats
 
Women's Soccer
Lehigh is set to host Loyola Friday evening in a win-and-in regular-season finale. Opening kickoff is set for 6 p.m. on ESPN+. With a win, the Mountain Hawks would advance to the Patriot League Tournament as the No. 2 seed in the South Division. With a loss or tie, Loyola would advance. The winner will head to No. 1 seed Navy for the Patriot League Semifinals next Wednesday. Last time out, the Mountain Hawks fell behind 2-0 to those Midshipmen, but hung tough and pulled within 2-1 behind a Chloe Tremblay goal late in the second half. Lehigh finished with a 10-9 edge in shots and 7-1 advantage in corner kicks, but it wasn't enough. The Mountain Hawks stand 1-2-2 on the season, 1-1-1 in the South. Lehigh is vying for its fourth Patriot League Tournament berth in the last five years. The last time they advanced, the Mountain Hawks advanced to the 2018 championship game. Loyola enters 3-1 on the season, 2-1 in the South, most recently winning at American by a 1-0 final. Loyola has won two straight against Lehigh, but the Mountain Hawks were 3-0-2 in the previous five.
Watch Live | Live Stats
 
Softball
Lehigh heads to Holy Cross for its third Patriot League series. The four-game set has been moved up a day to Friday-Saturday with Sunday's forecast calling for inclement weather. Friday's doubleheader will begin at 1:30 p.m. while Saturday's twinbill is set for a 12:30 p.m. start. The Mountain Hawks split a four-game series against Army West Point last weekend and are 4-10 overall and 2-4 in the Patriot League. Freshman Brooke Cannon went 5-for-6 in Sunday's series finale, a 12-10, nine-inning Lehigh victory, and was named Patriot League Rookie of the Week for the second time this season. Holy Cross is 5-7 on the season and also stands at 2-4 in the league. Last weekend the Crusaders dropped three out of four games at home against Bucknell, winning Saturday's second game 2-0.
Friday Video: Game 1 | Game 2
Live Stats
 
Men's Tennis
The Lehigh men's tennis team (3-1, 2-1) will look to bounce back this weekend after suffering its first loss of the season last weekend. In a battle between two 3-0 teams, the Mountain Hawks were topped 5-2 by the Midshipmen of Navy. Matt Kleiman and Jordan Paul notched the lone wins in singles for the Brown and White. This weekend, Lehigh heads to the Lichtenberg Tennis Center at West Point, N.Y. to go up against Army Sunday at 10 a.m. The Black Knights (5-1, 2-0) are coming off 7-0 and 5-0 wins over Lafayette and Holy Cross. Lehigh lost to Army 4-2 in the last meeting between the two schools in 2019.

Women's Tennis
Off to its best start in nearly 20 years, the Lehigh women's tennis team (4-1, 3-0) will look to keep its perfect Patriot League record alive on Saturday outside on the Ulrich Courts, as the Mountain Hawks will welcome in the Navy Midshipmen for a 2 p.m. match. Last time out, Lehigh took down the Bucknell Bison to improve to 3-0 in league play. After sweeping all three doubles matches, Junmoke James, Rachel Buchinsky, Anshika Singh and Megha Dania all picked up wins in straight sets. Navy comes into town with a 2-2 record, while containing an 0-1 mark in Patriot League play. The Midshipmen suffered a 5-2 loss to Army West Point in their last time out. Navy captured the last meeting 6-1, back in 2019.
 
Track and Field
Both Lehigh track and field teams will travel to Lewisburg on Sunday for an all-day event with the Bucknell Bison and the Army West Point Black Knights. Last time out, the Mountain Hawks hosted the Happy Easter Races, featuring Binghamton, Bucknell, Lafayette, Shippensburg and Wagner. Lehigh's women finished second with a total of 153 points, while the men finished fourth with a total of 101.5 points. The Brown and White won four total events on the day, two on men's side and then two on the women's side. Veronica Meyer (39.93m) and Brett DeWeese (14.92) earned wins in the javelin and the 100mH. On the men's side, Ian Scott (1.95m) and Conor Reilly (4.65m) took wins in the high jump and the pole vault. A total of 20 student-athletes notched PRs at the Happy Easter Races.  
 

Players Mentioned

RHP
/ Baseball
D
/ Men's Soccer
/ Men's Golf
/ Women's Tennis
IF/UT
/ Softball
A
/ Women's Lacrosse
/ Women's Tennis
Hurdles, Sprints, Jumps
/ Women's Track and Field
M
/ Women's Lacrosse
/ Men's Golf
/ Women's Tennis
A
/ Men's Lacrosse
/ Men's Tennis
F
/ Men's Soccer
Throws
/ Women's Track and Field
C
/ Baseball
/ Men's Tennis
Jumps
/ Men's Track and Field
C
/ Baseball
1B/RHP
/ Baseball
GK
/ Women's Lacrosse
F
/ Men's Soccer
D/M
/ Field Hockey
Jumps
/ Men's Track and Field
/ Women's Tennis
G
/ Men's Lacrosse
IF
/ Baseball
M
/ Women's Soccer
Undergraduate Commencement
Sunday, May 18
Graduate Commencement & Doctoral Hooding
Saturday, May 17
Commencement - Undergraduate Degrees
Sunday, May 19
Commencement - Graduate Degrees
Saturday, May 18