Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 1/16/18
From Press Release
The Lehigh men’s lacrosse team began preseason practice on Friday as it prepares for an anticipated season, which begins on Feb. 3 vs. NJIT.
The Mountain Hawks began with meetings before hitting the field for fitness testing and their first official practice of 2018. Lehigh returns a strong core of players, looking to take the next step after its seventh straight Patriot League Tournament appearance last season and consecutive home wins over nationally-ranked Boston University and Princeton.
“I’m excited to be back,” said Lehigh head coach Kevin Cassese. “This is year number 11 for me, but it feels like year one. It has the same level of energy. I’m ready to go, and I know the guys are too.”
The Mountain Hawks return a strong core of players all over the field. A pair of attackmen led Lehigh with 46 points last season in current juniors Andrew Pettit (Tower Hill-DE, Duke’s LC, 35 goals, 11 assists) and Tristan Rai (24 goals, 22 assists). Classmates Craig Chick and Eddie Bouhall spearhead the defense after combining for 100 groundballs and 60 caused turnovers in 2017. Sophomore Conor Gaffney (Lenape-NJ, Duke’s LC) returns at the faceoff circle after winning 61.0 percent of his draws as a freshman (139-of-228).
“The feeling around this team is one that I like as a coach because they seem to have a tremendous chip on their shoulders,” said Cassese. “We’ve had some success, but we’ve had failure, which is a good recipe [for future success]. Last year, we were consistently inconsistent. There were great wins, bad losses and a little bit of everything.
“We have to find a way to hold some consistency,” Cassese continued. “I think that will come with a little bit more maturity. Quite frankly, not hitting our goals the last few years, enough guys get irritable and want to do something about it. We’re getting to that point.”
Fifth-year senior Ian Strain (Episcopal Academy, Duke’s LC) returns as a second-year captain after leading the midfield in goals (15), assists (7) and points (22) last season, all career highs.
“I came back just for this feeling. I couldn’t give it up just yet,” said Strain. “I’ve been chomping at the bit waiting to get back here. The energy level is high with all the guys. It made coming back really easy. What I bring to the table is a lot of experience. I’ve had a lot of ups and downs here at Lehigh, so I’m trying to manage these young guys who maybe haven’t had a lot of success just yet and show them the ropes.”
The Mountain Hawks are in a strong position considering it’s mid-January, but they have a long way to go to reach their goals. Right now, the focus is on winning the day.
“I want to make sure today is the best possible practice, we get the best out of the guys and put them in the best position to succeed,” said Cassese. “You look at this week, training camp week before classes start on the 22nd, my goal for this team is to get us to the same point after 12 practices that we were at the end of the fall season – with the same amount of schemes and same progression within our schemes to quickly get back to that point. I think we’re on track to do that and I have a lot of faith in our coaches and veterans to bring the younger guys along.”
Despite not reaching several of their goals over the past few years, a very important goal has been accomplished. The Mountain Hawks’ run of Patriot League Tournament appearances has reached seven. Only Army West Point has a current run that long.
Lehigh has tasted success, but hopes to get back into championship contention. Just a few years ago, the Mountain Hawks advanced to three straight title games (2012, 2013 and 2014) while winning two (2012 and 2013).
“Ever since last season ended, we’ve been looking forward to getting back on the field,” said Strain. “Last season didn’t quite end how we wanted, but we have a lot of talent coming back. We have a lot of young guys who on paper may be young, but they’re not that young in terms of experience. We’re ready to get out there and show who we are.”