The Lehigh men's soccer team won the 2015 Patriot League Championship less than 10 months ago.
 
That's the last thing the Mountain Hawks are thinking about at the moment. The team isn't focused on repeating, but rather, competing for another championship.
 
"Our mentality is that we're not talking at all about defending a championship; we have to attack a new championship," said Dean Koski, who is entering his 25th season as Lehigh head coach. "It's another opportunity. We know how tough the league is and we know how good our opponents will be. Everyone in the league is good."
 
The positive from last season's championship is the upperclassmen know what it takes.
 
"We cannot go into this season with anything other than humility and being realistic that we've got to fight in every game in order to make the postseason," said Koski. "Once you're in the postseason, you've got to fight and scrap to get to the finals and once you're in the finals, it's about who wants it more."
 
Despite graduating a talented class, including Patriot League Tournament MVP Jamie Luchini who is now a member of the Bethlehem Steel professional team, the Mountain Hawks return plenty of key pieces in 2016.
 
"We're not thin. We feel like we've got quality depth at every position," said Koski. "In the short amount of time we've seen the freshmen, we feel really good about where we are."
 
Let's take a closer look at how things are coming together.
 
Forwards
At the forward position, junior Doyle Tuvesson and sophomores Mark Forrest and Oscar Greene look to lead the way.
 
"Those three have really distinguished themselves early on and will certainly be our guys moving forward, but we feel like we have some good depth with some of our freshmen and other upperclassmen in there," said Koski.
 
Forrest enjoyed a sensational freshman campaign in 2015, posting 26 points behind 11 goals and four assists. He was a third team All-Region and All-Patriot League honoree while winning Lehigh Athletics' department-wide J. Daniel Nolan Award, presented to the top first-year male student-athlete.
 
Additional players are squarely in the mix for playing time as well.
 
"I see Nick Jewell and Kevin Klinkenberg being utility guys who can help us in different roles as starters and coming off the bench," said Koski. "Their experience as juniors is going to really be important for us."
 
Midfielders
The attacking midfielders are experienced and should be spearheaded by juniors Jack Miskel and Tatsu Otani, along with sophomore Alex Greene. Greene finished last season third on the Mountain Hawks with 15 points behind five goals and five assists. One of his highlights came vs. James Madison when he scored both Lehigh goals in a victory, earning Patriot League Rookie of the Week honors. Meanwhile, Miskel saw a lot of playing time, starting 19 games, with 11 starts.
 
"We've got some really good players in the midfield," said Koski. "We feel like Jack, Tatsu and Alex can cycle through and regardless of what two are playing, we will be experienced and dynamic."
 
Senior Danny Gonzalez is an anchor at the Mountain Hawks' defensive midfield position. Gonzalez was a third team All-League honoree last season and has played in all 58 games in his collegiate career, starting 57 of them. He has two career goals and three career assists under his belt, while playing a key role in Lehigh's defensive effort.
 
Another defensive midfielder who should see significant playing time is junior David Zipkin, who played in 20 games last season, making six starts.
 
"Zippy's had a really good camp for us and we need to find ways to get him on the field," said Koski.
 
Defenders
Anchoring Lehigh's defense is senior Justin Worley, who has started all 58 games in his career as a two-time All-Patriot League honoree, garnering first team laurels last season.
 
"We've got some experience with Justin as one of our center backs and (junior) John Marc Charpentier, who will hopefully step in there when he is ready," said Koski.
 
Also squarely in the mix at defense is senior Gianfranco Giammatteo and sophomore Matt Morana, who will anchor the outside back positions.
 
"If we go with Gio, Worley, JM and Morana, we have two seniors, a junior and a sophomore all in the back and we feel really good about that," said Koski. "They all came in fit and ready to go."
 
Goalkeepers
Lehigh is deep in goal, including junior Joe Bogan, who was a member of the Patriot League All-Tournament team last season, and senior Jacob Gottwald, who started 11 games as a freshman and posted a solid 1.67 goals against average and .719 save percentage.
 
Koski has been impressed by the resiliency of Gottwald.
 
"We called Jake two weeks before practice as an incoming freshman, a local kid out of Parkland High School," said Koski. "For him to compete every year and stay in there and now have an opportunity to start as a senior speaks volumes about the kind of young man he is. Our hope is that they can all sustain what they're capable of doing.
 
"In addition, our two freshmen keepers, Will Smith and Ian Marshall, are guys who will push our upperclassmen in an appropriate way," he continued.
 
Outlook
The Mountain Hawks are anchored by upperclassmen, who look to set the stage for the next wave of players. Most notably, freshmen defenders look to learn from a veteran group in the back
 
"When you look at Nolan Coulter, Zarin Tuten, Danny Leszczynski and Matthew Peralta, we have really four freshmen that we're grooming as apprentice backs," said Koski. "We don't need any of them to step in right away, but they've all done a really nice job and if needed to play, they are all capable.
 
"With Nick Facendo and Tommy Dokho up top, those are guys we'll work in," he continued. "They're not quite ready yet to start, but we may need them to play to rest our other forwards."
 
The freshmen will learn from a variety of experienced upperclassmen, including a strong senior class.
 
"Gio has played almost every position since his freshman year, other than in goal, and we've needed that versatility," said Koski. "Gonzo has just been a workhorse, unheralded in many ways, but one of the cornerstones of how we'd like to play with the ground he covers and what he does. Justin Worley has been Justin Worley since his freshman year; he's been steady, consistent, a great leader, a terrific young man and has always stepped on the field ready to compete. And of course, Gottwald has grown leaps and bounds these past three years as a goalkeeper and leader in the back."

Worley and Gonzalez are the Mountain Hawks' captains, but they're not the team's only leaders. Everyone brings something different to the table.
 
"Our seniors and juniors are more than capable of being leaders without wearing a captains' armband," said Koski. "I think we have excellent leadership on the team."
 
The preseason is all about building a team, meshing the upperclassmen and returnees into one cohesive unit.
 
"How the freshmen get integrated into the culture of the team and integrated into our system of play is really important," said Koski. "We haven't really had to focus on leadership or team chemistry. This will evolve over the course of the season. We've been spending a lot of time on how we want to defend, how we want to attack and what our basic restarts are going to look like, trying to keep it as simple as we can. We don't need to reinvent the wheel; we're not playing a new system. We're going to stay true to who we are and try to continue to get better at the things we do."
 
The Mountain Hawks will look to continue improving, beginning with their nonleague slate. Although the Patriot League schedule is most important, Lehigh will not take its nonleague opponents lightly.
 
"We want to divide the season into parts. Doing well and getting results in the nonleague always gives us a better opportunity to consider an at-large bid," said Koski. "Then, our Patriot League games become very important. We want to make sure we're trending in the right direction. If we need to make changes, then we can adjust accordingly."
 
One area Koski always looks for improvement is defending.
 
"For me, I will always look for improvement on the defensive side of the ball - how disciplined and organized we are, and how well we communicate," he said. "Our success will always begin and end with how well we defend as a group."
 
The Mountain Hawks are excited for the season ahead, and it all begins on Friday at James Madison.
 
"I think we have a really good balance of experience, success and leadership," said Koski. "We want to keep that as our foundation and build off that. We haven't talked about being talented or whether we think we're good or not good. We've just talked about being true to who we are, keeping it as simple as we can and working together to achieve a successful season."

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