The stats don’t lie.
In 2017, Lehigh allowed forty one factors and 477.7 yards in step with sport.
In 2018, the Mountain Hawks gave up 35 factors and 446 yards per contest.
Through 10 games this season, Lehigh has yielded just 21.Eight factors and 359 yards per recreation.
Those numbers prove what maximum have located — the Mountain Hawks’ protection is notably advanced.
Unfortunately for first-year head instruct Tom Gilmore and people who have played roles in the transition, the crew’s win-loss report doesn’t replicate the protective development.
Lehigh enters Saturday’s season finale and the a hundred and fifty fifth edition of university soccer’s maximum-played rivalry against Lafayette at Goodman Stadium with a four-6 record and on its 2nd three-game losing streak of the season.
While a proportion of the Patriot League identify can be earned with a win and a loss by means of Holy Cross to Georgetown, a 3rd consecutive dropping season is assured.
Gilmore isn’t pleased with this season’s consequences but sees a larger photo full of promise considering 10 starters for the season finale will be either newbies or sophomores and greater than half of the roster has first and 2nd-year players.
[More Sports] Lehigh Valley Sports Scene: Kutztown, East Stroudsburg football gamers dominate all-convention teams »“We’re no longer anywhere close to where we want to be, but as the top educate I’m seeing things that a variety of different human beings might not see and that’s the improvement of the crew and the program,” Gilmore stated. “We’ve made a variety of strides in such a lot of methods, perhaps not enough to meet me or others, but you have to study the improvement in a few matters on and stale the sphere. We’re shifting in the proper direction.”
An damage-plagued offense has scored a total of 33 points within the 3-sport slide. Lehigh has scored 21 or more points simply 3 instances.
Thanks to the protection, Lehigh has been competitive in each recreation aside from lopsided losses to nationally-ranked Villanova and UC Davis.
“We’ve been in a whole lot of one-score games and you could study that ways,” Gilmore stated. “You can say you’re not winning the close video games or you could say which you men, irrespective of the situations, you’re always gambling properly enough to be right in the sport. I select to take a look at that manner because I’d as an alternative be positive. We’re proper there. We have a younger crew and we’ve progressed dramatically.”
[More Sports] Lafayette football has more than simply bragging rights on the line vs. Lehigh »Gilmore said the culture, the extent of duty, the attention to element and work ethic have stepped forward.
Having a full off-season of recruiting to get at the recruiting trail and no longer having to place a whole training workforce collectively and get to finetune different things have to make 2020 even higher.
The seniors can take delight that the muse has been set for destiny success after going five-7 in 2017 (5-1 inside the Patriot League, earning the league’s automatic NCAA playoff berth) and 3-eight in 2018.
Free safety Sam McCloskey, who took a scientific redshirt to come back lower back for a 5th season, stated he’s happy he came back.
[More Sports] Penn State’s Joe Kovacs, the sector shot-put champ, forges a brand new lifestyles at (gasp!) Ohio State »“We placed a great season collectively,” he stated. “It wasn’t the nice one. We desired to win a championship and we had a shot at it, but we didn’t finish a couple of video games. I’m nonetheless pleased with the guys and we had a whole lot of a laugh in the course of that four-sport win streak.”
McCloskey stated the combination of the difficult-operating players and the new protective body of workers have made the defense a greater stout unit.
Lehigh hasn’t misplaced to Lafayette considering that being routed 27-7 in the a hundred and fiftieth assembly in 2014 at Yankee Stadium.
Last 12 months’s sport was featured a dominant 34-three win. The defense set a direct tone whilst Julian Lynn were given a strip-sack on the primary play from scrimmage and Davis Maxie went 43 yards for a touchdown with the fumble simply 19 seconds after the opening whistle. The Mountain Hawks in no way seemed again.
[More Sports] Team-first play sends Lehigh men’s soccer crew into NCAA match against Pitt »Lafayette’s three factors were the fewest scored against Lehigh in view that 2016 and set the level for more high-quality protecting efforts this year.
“Defensively, there are a variety of specific areas wherein you can see development,” fifth-year protecting quit Juwan Morrow stated. “Everything I wanted in coming again and looking to put down a lifestyle for the destiny of the program has been a success. There’s simply one extra factor I want to get finished and that’s Saturday. The defense is without a doubt going to get after it.”
Morrow stated the shielding change started out with a extraordinary attitude.
“Hey, we’re the Lehigh defense … just try to flow the ball on us,” Morrow stated. “We take that into each play, each sport, every week. It’s going to be emotional understanding that that is the final game of my profession, however there’s no higher level to exit on.”
5 things to realize
- Lafayette leads the all-time collection 78-seventy one-5, but Lehigh has long past forty four-23-2 because 1950 and 35-19 considering the fact that a tie in assembly No. One hundred in 1964.
- The game isn’t always a sellout.
- Lehigh is coming off a season-first-rate 151 yards dashing in the 13-6 loss at Sacred Heart. Sophomore Rashawn Allen had 113 yards on a career-high 27 consists of.
Four. Sophomore Alec Beesmer is anticipated to get his 2d immediately begin at quarterback. He completed simply 8 of 29 passes for 107 yards at Sacred Heart but ran for 27 yards. Lehigh’s beleaguered offensive line allowed 5 sacks.
[More Sports] Penn State men’s basketball pulls away from Bucknell »- RCN-4 Sports Talk, backed by using The Morning Call, will preview the sport at 7 p.M. Thursday with Lehigh radio play-with the aid of-play man Matt Kerr and Lafayette Sports Network analyst Mike Joseph serving as unique visitors.