BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Lehigh head women's soccer coach Eric Lambinusannounced the team's 2019 schedule on Wednesday, which again features a challenging slate. Coming off its run to the 2018 Patriot League Championship Game, Lehigh is set to face three NCAA Tournament teams from last season, all who are coming off conference titles. The Mountain Hawks will also face a strong group of regional teams, including three Atlantic 10 foes.
 
Lehigh opens its season by hosting Delaware for the first time since 2001. The season opener is set for Friday, Aug. 23. The teams did play at Delaware in 2017, a 2-1 Blue Hens' overtime win.
 
The Mountain Hawks return home two days later to host Monmouth on Sunday, Aug. 25. Last season, Lehigh picked up a huge 1-0 win against the Hawks, who went on to lose just one more game the rest of the regular season, finishing with just four defeats all year on the way to their third straight MAAC title.
 
The Mountain Hawks hit the road for the next four, beginning Thursday, Aug. 29 at perennial Northeast Conference contender Fairleigh Dickinson. Lehigh then faces two Atlantic 10 teams, with a former member of the A-10 sandwiched in between. The Mountain Hawks travel to Duquesne on Sunday, Sept. 1 for the first meeting in program history. They then head to Temple on Wednesday, Sept. 4, as the Mountain Hawks and Owls will square off for a fifth straight season. The road trip ends with Lehigh's first game at Fordham since 1993; the teams met last season in Bethlehem for the first time since 1994. Fordham tied for fifth (out of 14 teams) in last year's A-10 standings, advancing to the conference tournament.
 
Lehigh returns home for the first time in nearly three weeks when it hosts UMBC on Friday, Sept. 13. Two days later, the Mountain Hawks face another A-10 opponent in Saint Joseph's, as the Hawks come to town on Sunday, Sept. 15. Last season, Saint Joe's tied for third in the A-10 with an 8-2 league mark (14-5-2 overall).
 
Patriot League play begins on Saturday, Sept. 21 vs. Loyola and continues the following Saturday (Sept. 28) at archrival Lafayette. That kicks off three games in eight days, as the Mountain Hawks host Bucknell on Wednesday, Oct. 2 – in a rematch of last season's Patriot League Quarterfinal – before traveling to Navy on Saturday, Oct. 5.
 
Lehigh travels to Boston University the following Saturday, Oct. 12 for a rematch of the league championship game. Three days later, the Mountain Hawks face another reigning league champ, traveling to Ivy League Champion Princeton on Tuesday, Oct. 15.
 
The regular season wraps up with two home games, vs. Holy Cross (Saturday, Oct. 19) and American (Friday, Nov. 1), with road contests at Colgate (Wednesday, Oct. 23) and Army West Point (Saturday, Oct. 26) in between.
 
The Patriot League Tournament begins with the quarterfinals on Tuesday, Nov. 5 followed by the semifinals on Friday, Nov. 8 and championship game on Sunday, Nov. 10. The Mountain Hawks will be vying for their fourth straight Patriot League Tournament berth.
 
Like Lehigh Women's Soccer on Facebook, follow on Twitter and Instagram for continued updates on the Mountain Hawks.