BETHLEHEM, Pa. — It's always a great time of year when The Rivalry comes up on the schedule. That's what the Lehigh men's soccer team is about to partake in on Saturday when the Mountain Hawks (7-4-1, 4-0-0 PL) take on the Lafayette Leopards (4-4-3, 0-2-2 PL) at Mike Bourger Field at Oaks Stadium.
 
It's safe to say that the Mountain Hawks are currently in the middle of their best stretch of soccer of the season right now, especially in their last seven games. Lehigh has won four of its last five games and are in the middle of a three-game win streak dating back to a 2-1 overtime victory over Boston University on Sept. 29.
 
During that stretch of games since falling at home to Binghamton 2-1 on Sept. 7, Lehigh is 5-1-1, scoring 10 goals in that span.
 
The Mountain Hawks' offense largely revolves around the standout play from Patriot League Offensive Player of the Week Mark Forrest and Rookie of the Week Josh Luchini, who currently pace the team with five goals each. The forward duo has been electric especially since being paired up early in the season. In addition to the goals, Forrest has tallied five assists while Luchini has two of them. Aside from both of those players, the goal production has varied with five other players scoring one goal each.
 
While the offensive production has definitely been an impressive facet of head coach Dean Koski's Mountain Hawks, it isn't the only thing that has been positive this year.
 
The defense has been extremely good, especially late in the season when injuries have become prominent. Many different players have stepped up this year, but the recent success of the back four with senior Matt Morana, junior Zarin Tuten, sophomore Nolan Coulter and freshman Dawson Berger, the Mountain Hawks have been really difficult to stop.
 
Those four and some other faces that have also stepped in are a big part of the success of keeping opponents from scoring, especially late in games. Most of all, Patriot League Goalkeeper of the Week Will Smith has been able to receive that help en route to seven shutouts this year, ranked first among league leaders. Smith has been exceptional in goal this season, a big reason he's brought home three Goalkeeper of the Week awards. In addition to his shutout success, Smith has accumulated a goals against average of 0.80 with 48 saves and a save percentage of 0.828.
 
The Leopards are going to have a tough time for sure against Lehigh's recent high-powered offense and steady defense, but anything can happen with The Rivalry, especially on the road, where the Mountain Hawks are 5-1-0 this season, since the Aug. 24 opener at UConn.
 
Lafayette has pretty solid to start the season, facing challenges especially to start Patriot League play. The Leopards have scored only one goal through the first four league games, most recently playing BU to a 0-0 draw on Oct. 6. The Leopards were 4-2-1 in non-league play this season including a stretch where they won four of five games beating Monmouth, Stony Brook, Siena and La Salle before falling victim to the Cornell Big Red on Sept. 7.
 
Statistically, Lafayette is led by junior forward James Gibson, who has recorded four goals this season including two-goal affair against Siena earlier in the season. Gibson has been out of action since the Leopards' Sept. 22 loss at Bucknell. Junior midfielder Chris Gomez has scored three goals on 16 shots this year with a game-winner under his belt.
 
By far, Lafayette's greatest bright spot on the team this year has been the stellar goalkeeping from freshman Alex Sutton, who is ranked third in the Patriot League in GAA with a 0.68 mark. Sutton also has four shutouts this season.
 
All-time, The Rivalry falls in Lehigh's favor with a 57-47-10. The Mountain Hawks defeated the Leopards on Oct. 14, 2017, 2-0 at the Ulrich Sports Complex.
 
Saturday's matchup in Easton will be streamed live on the Patriot League Network.
 
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