BETHLEHEM, Pa. - With the season opener just two weeks away, the Lehigh women's soccer team hit the field for the first time on Monday, completing fitness testing in the morning before holding its first practice of the preseason in the evening. The Mountain Hawks return with a lot of optimism as a strong core of players, coupled with a talented freshman class of eight, look to improve every day leading into the opener at Monmouth on Monday, Aug. 22.
 
"Last spring, we worked a lot on the community feeling and chemistry of the team," said junior Amanda Stratton. "As a team, we're going to really focus on taking it day by day and being the best that we can be today. We're focused on taking it step by step."

 

The Mountain Hawks are concentrated on the process. By maximizing their abilities every day, whether it's on the practice field or in a game, the results will come.
 
"Everything is about our team. The team is always going to come first and every choice that we make impacts everyone," said head coach Eric Lambinus. "We want to improve every day; how can we get better, and not worry about the end result, because that's just an outcome.
 
"We want to be the best Lehigh women's soccer team this year. We're not comparing ourselves to other teams, we're not comparing ourselves to previous teams. We want to do as well as humanely possible with this group."
 
The group that returns features plenty of experience, including the team's leading returning scorer, sophomore Sabrina Mertz. In total, Lehigh's top seven scores from a season ago all return. Following Mertz's 17 points, senior Laura Courtney finished second with eight points (three goals, two assists) while also anchoring the defense.
 
"We want to establish an identity in the way we play," said Lambinus. "We want to be an aggressive team, we want to attack a lot and we want to put teams under pressure, both offensively and defensively. We were able to work on a lot through the spring; we were pretty successful scoring some goals and holding teams off and making it difficult for our opposition."
 
Lehigh will feature a new starter in goal after Ani Nahapetian graduated. Over the last five years, Nahapetian and Ashley Blanks started all but seven games. This season's Mountain Hawks features three goalkeepers who will vie for playing time in sophomores Lidia Breen and Kylie Ginsberg, along with freshman Sam Miller. Miller is one of eight freshmen looking to acclimate with the team.
 
"We really want to make the freshmen as comfortable as possible and help them get to know how our program works and the community that we've built here," said Stratton.
 
The next two weeks will be important as the Mountain Hawks begin developing their identity.
 
"We have this cautious optimism," said Lambinus. "We have good ability. We know this team can do some really good things. They were all picked to be here for specific reasons, but we have a lot of work to do."
 
The ultimate goal is developing from 24 players, four coaches and staff into one team.
 
"Our goal over the next two weeks is to figure out, what's our greatest strengths?  What are things that we do better than other teams?" said Lambinus. "For the next two weeks before the first game, it's all about figuring out how we can be the best Lehigh women's soccer team possible."
 
The Mountain Hawks are bought into the process. If they improve every day and perform to the best of their abilities, success will come.
 
"We're all really excited," said Stratton. "We have new freshmen, a new assistant coach and a new graduate assistant coach. We're all happy and excited to be back and looking forward to some new beginnings and a fresh start."
 
Like Lehigh Women's Soccer on Facebook and follow on Twitter for continued updates on the Mountain Hawks.