BETHLEHEM, Pa. — The 2018 Lehigh men's soccer season officially came to a close on Sunday with the annual Awards Banquet to wrap up another successful year on the soccer field.
 
The senior awards capped off a great night of food, family and reminiscing on what a great soccer season 2018 was for Lehigh.
 
The Mountain Hawks finished in second place in the Patriot League with a record of 6-3, finishing 9-8-2 overall. The team had big wins this season over George Washington, St. John's, eventual MAAC Champion Rider, then-20th ranked Colgate and draws against Ivy League powers Dartmouth and Penn. Lehigh opened the Patriot League Tournament with a bye into the semifinal round, falling to Colgate 2-1 to conclude the season.
 
Head Coach Dean Koski and his coaching staff gave out annual awards on Sunday which included the first-year letter winners, and three senior awards.
 
First the letter-winners, awarded to players who played over 600 minutes on the field this season, were given out to sophomores Trevor Koski and Tyler Dressman, freshmen Dawson Berger, Michael Tahiru, Nick Jennings and Josh Luchini, junior Nolan Coulter and senior Paul Steingraber.
 
Sophomores Stevo Bednarsky and Blaise Milanek were awarded letters for the second time. Juniors Zarin Tuten and Will Smith were third-year letter winners, and seniors Mark Forrest, Oscar Greene and Matt Morana were fourth-year letter winners.
 
The Scholar Athlete award winner was given to the player who met the expected GPA requirements and was selected upon by the coaching staff and teammates. This year's award winner was co-captain Matt Morana, who earned a cumulative GPA of 3.43.
 
"Matt has always embodied what I would consider the ideal student athlete where he really managed for four years his responsibilities in the classroom and on the field and off the field," said head coach Dean Koski. "I think one of the reasons he was selected as captain his junior year was because he did all the right things the right way for four years and we will certainly miss that leadership and that part of Matt because he was a great role model for our underclassmen."
 
The next award given out on the night was the Coaches' Award which is awarded to the individual who made significant contributions to the well-being of the team in terms of attitude, improvement, or special leadership. The 2018 winner was goalkeeper Paul Steingraber.
 
"One of the most difficult things as a Division I athlete is to be self-aware and to understand the importance of your role on the team, whether you're a starter, a third or fourth string goalkeeper," said Koski. "Embracing that especially when you're not under the lights all the time is really hard and Paul, to his credit, was appreciative of being out there every day and worked hard every day.
 
"He always put the team first and that is rare, you don't often find that at the college level. I couldn't tell you how happy we were with adding him as a walk-on his sophomore year and what he's contributed to this program and this team behind the scenes and while you're not going to see it in the record books, every man on this team knows that this Coaches' Award couldn't be more well-deserved."
 
Finally, the Lehigh Men's Soccer Outstanding Athlete Award was awarded to co-captain Mark Forrest, who after an historic season to conclude his four years at Lehigh, became Patriot League Offensive Player of the Year in back-to-back seasons. Forrest finished the year with eight goals and five assists for 21 points. He had three game-winning goals on the year and was 3-for-3 in penalty kicks. To conclude his career playing at the Ulrich Sports Complex, Forrest tallied his fourth career hat-trick in a 3-1 victory over Holy Cross on Nov. 3. For his career, Forrest finishes with 41 career goals and 103 career points, good for second on both Lehigh's and the Patriot League's all-time list in both of those categories.
 
All three of the Patriot League's all-time 100 point career scorers went to Lehigh, as Andrew Mittendorf (1995-98) had 106, Forrest (2015-18) had 103 and Evan Bruno (1999-02) finished with 101. Mittendorf (43), Forrest (41) and Bruno (40) are also the Patriot League's only 40+ goal in the league's history.
 
Additionally, Forrest is the program's first three-time winner of the award since Allan Charles (1994-96).
 
"His legacy will endure," Koski said. "And certainly, Mark is going to be really missed next year and in years to come because what he's been able to contribute to this team since his freshman year.
 
"In addition to scoring all those goals and being such an offensive threat is his leadership, his commitment to the team and what he did as a role model for the underclassmen. He did it all and to have the kind of career that he had is deserved, because he worked for it and he comes from a great family and I think that Mark winning this award three years in a row is no surprise to me and I'm really pleased he had the kind of career that he had here."
 
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