Lehigh men's soccer takes program’s first trip to California

September 8, 2011
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – The Lehigh men’s soccer team will head to the west coast for the first time in program history to take part in the CAL Legacy Classic. On Friday, the Mountain Hawks will take on host No. 22 California Golden Bears at 7:30 p.m. and will conclude their weekend with a trip to Stanford to take on the Cardinal at 6:30 p.m.
 
"To be able to go out west for the first time in program history and play programs like Cal and Stanford is huge for our program," said head coach Dean Koski. "It’s a signature year for us to see how we stack up against teams from the west coast. We’re very excited about that but we know what we’re up against."
 
Cal has been to the NCAA tournament in nine of the last ten years. Last year, Cal went 14-2-4, earned the No. 6 seed in the NCAA tournament, and advanced to the quarterfinals before being eliminated on penalties by eventual national champion Akron.
 
This season, Cal (1-1-1) is led by junior forwards Michael Munoz and John Fitzpatrick whom both lead the team in goals (1) and points (2). The Golden Bears won their season opener 1-0 at San Francisco before drawing with Northwestern and losing to Connecticut. In Cal’s most recent game on September 4 in Storrs, Conn., then-No. 7 Cal fell to No. 4 Connecticut 4-1.
 
Friday’s match will be Cal’s home opener.
 
In goal, sophomore Robby Gogatz has played every minute for the Bears and ranks third in the Pac-12 with a 1.24 goals-against average. The keeper is also ranked first in saves (15) and saves per games (5.00), tied for first in shutouts (2) and shutouts per game (0.67) and second in save percentage (.789).
 
Cal is now ranked No. 22 by the NSCAA and is also ranked No. 13 by College Soccer News, No. 15 by Soccer America and No. 35 by TopDrawSoccer.com.
 
Lehigh will close out the weekend at Stanford. The two schools met back in 2009 with the Mountain Hawks playing host in their season opener and defeating Stanford 2-1. The Cardinal went on to finish the year with 12 wins and advanced to the third round of the NCAA tournament.
 
Stanford (0-3-0) is still in search of its first win and goal this season after falling to Santa Clara, then-No. 4 Maryland and Georgetown. Junior Dersu Abolfathi leads the team with four shots while senior Garrett Gunther has three shots with two on goal and senior Taylor Amman also had three shots. The match will also be Stanford’s home opener where it is 13-6-1 over the last two seasons.
 
"You play a completely different kind of soccer," said Koski. "Both teams will be very possession oriented. Both teams will have players in their programs that will end up in MLS. A lot of things we will see on the west coast are distinctly different that what we see here on the east coast, but any time you have aspirations to be in the NCAA tournament, you have to look at different teams."
 
The weekend’s trip will not only benefit the team on the pitch as it gets ready for Patriot League play, but off of it as well.
 
"It’s a great marketing opportunity for our program," said Koski. "A lot of people out there haven’t seen Lehigh play nor never heard of Lehigh so not only will it benefit it us playing against tough competition, but it will help for recruiting."
 
Lehigh is coming off its first win of the season as it beat Yale 1-0 on September 4th at the Ulrich Sports Complex. Sophomore keeper Ciaran Nugent had five saves en route to his second shutout of the season while it was a pair of seniors that put Lehigh on the board for the first time in 2011. Kevin Strunk lobbed a pass to Joe Puleo who made a couple of moves inside the box and connected for the game-winning goal in the 30th minute.
 
It will have to be the seniors and upperclassmen again this weekend that step up and provide some leadership on the pitch.
 
"They need to bring composure," said Koski. "Our seniors have been away from home and done enough travelling to be comfortable wherever they go so they have to keep the team intact. It’s not only us against the other team but we are against their fans as well and our guys can’t get unsettled by that and the younger guys will look to the senior leadership for that. They just have to go out there, relax and have a good time."

Live stats will be available for both matches.
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