Lehigh readies for American Saturday

October 19, 2018

BETHLEHEM, Pa. — After going the distance on the road against Dartmouth in Hanover, N.H. on Tuesday, the Mountain Hawks return home to the Ulrich Sports Complex on Saturday night for the second-to-last home game of the regular season against American at 6 p.m.
 
The game is Lehigh's second and final 'Summit Series' matchup of the 2018 season, where tickets will be $5 at the gate.
 
Despite a 4-1-0 Patriot League record, being one of the hotter teams in the league as of late, Lehigh has had trouble finding the net in its last two games, after falling to Lafayette 1-0 last Saturday and tying the Big Green 0-0 in two overtimes.
 
Before those two matchups, the Mountain Hawks were one of the Patriot League's more proficient goal-scoring teams, having totaled 15 goals in 11 games.
 
Led by the forward line of senior Mark Forrest and freshman Josh Luchini, the pair have scored five goals each this season. Against Dartmouth this week, Forrest tallied 10 shot attempts, three of which were on goal in the Mountain Hawks' draw. He's currently three points away from 100 for his career and two goals away from 40 all-time. Forrest leads the team in total shots with 46 so far.
 
Lehigh junior goalkeeper Will Smith had another one of his standout performances on Tuesday at Dartmouth, making five saves for his eighth shutout of the season, lowering his goals against average to 0.75 in 14 starts.
 
After a long mid-week trip to New England this past week, the Mountain Hawks had great use out of their bench with sophomores Ikem Mbalewe and Sam Steinberg and freshman Patrick Adams all seeing playing time. The depth of the team is what will pay off in the long run for the rest of the season.
 
American comes to Bethlehem on Saturday looking to gain ground in the Patriot League standings. The Eagles are currently 2-1-2 in the Patriot League after a 2-1 win over Holy Cross on Oct. 13. American is currently tied with Colgate for fifth in the league with eight points. The team trails first-place Lehigh by four points.
 
The Eagles are led by junior midfielder Fabio Massaro, who has scored six goals this season. He is also the team leader in points with 12 so far. Sophomore midfielder Jarrad Brenner and sophomore forward Jerry Zouantcha each have tallied four goals this year. Freshman goalkeeper Lucas Manso has a 2.02 GAA and one shutout in 12 starts.
 
American leads the all-time series between the two programs 13-7-5, with the Mountain Hawks winning last season's edition of the game, 4-1 on Oct. 21.
 
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