Professional PLL
06:00 PM
Jul 19
Phi
Den
College lacrosse is back. As perhaps the most anticipated season in NCAA history approaches, we’re featuring every team ranked in the Nike/US Lacrosse Preseason Top 20.
Check back to USLaxMagazine.com each weekday for new previews, scouting reports and rival analysis.
No. 16 Lehigh
2020 Record: 5-1
Pre-COVID Ranking: 15th
While the COVID-19 pandemic cut short the 2020 NCAA men’s lacrosse season and left a lot of teams hungry, there may not be a team more ready to capture that unfinished business than the 2021 Lehigh men’s lacrosse team.
The Mountain Hawks suffered back-to-back losses in the Patriot League championship game in 2018 and 2019. In 2020, they were on one of the best starts in program history when their season was canceled. Their only loss was against Virginia, the No. 1 team in the country at the time and the defending NCAA champion.
“For the past couple of years, our main goal has been to capture that Patriot League championship, and we’ve come up short twice,” fifth-year faceoff specialist Conor Gaffney said. “The motivation comes mostly from that, especially since the prospect of this season could be the Patriot League only. “
This year, Lehigh will rely on its leadership to help get back to the league final. But this time, the Mountain Hawks want to come out as winners, something this senior class has not been able to accomplish.
Nike/USL Preseason Top 20
Team Previews
| 1. Duke | 2. Syracuse | 3. Maryland | 4. Penn State |
| 5. Virginia | 6. North Carolina | 7. Denver | 8. Yale |
| 9. Cornell | 10. Notre Dame | 11. Georgetown | 12. Ohio State |
| 13. Loyola | 14. UMass | 15. Army | 16. Lehigh |
| 17. Richmond | 18. Penn | 19. Rutgers | 20. Johns Hopkins |
For the four fifth-years who decided to come back after the NCAA granted an extra year of eligibility to all spring athletes after the 2020 season was canceled, they have a lot riding on this upcoming year — with only more chance to capture that title.
Midfielders Crew Cintron, Andrew Eichelberger and Christian McHugh were the other fifth-years who chose to return.
“It’s really exciting to have them back, not only for the type of players they are, but the type of leaders and characteristics they possess is going to add so much value to our team,” coach Kevin Cassese said.
Lehigh already has had to lean heavily on that leadership under unprecedented circumstances. Due to the amount of positive COVID-19 cases on Lehigh’s campus in the fall, the team only had one official practice together and three weeks of skill sessions. The Mountain Hawks had to get creative with how they would continue to foster team chemistry, despite not being able to practice together as much as they wanted.
Since Lehigh wasn’t allowed to practice on its field for the majority of the fall, junior attackman Tommy Schelling said the players went to a local park to train.
“We would pick each other up, drive there, and do ladder and skill work and just try to get an individual workout in,” Schelling said.
Despite having minimal practice time together, it gives the Mountain Hawks some motivation knowing that they didn’t.
“We feel like we have this chip on our shoulder that we’re operating from behind because we didn’t get that 12-week period to train in the fall,” Cassese said. “And now they have an eight-week break where they’re on their own, so really there’s an intrinsic motivation for the opportunity to come back and play.”