After an up-and-down 2013 season, the Lehigh women's soccer team will look to its seniors to lead the way in 2014. Those seniors have stepped up to the challenge, both on and off the field.
 
"We have good depth, led by a solid group of seniors who make up the spine of our team," said Lehigh head coach Eric Lambinus. "We think they can lead us in a great direction. We have a lot of upperclassmen who can do a good job in key spots."
 
Perhaps more importantly than on-field success, the senior class has helped foster a positive culture from player one through 27.
 
"The seniors did a great job of welcoming the freshmen," said Lambinus. "They really got to know each other in the offseason. They have really good relationships. It's great because those relationships don't always happen, but they made a point of including the freshmen, which has helped in their transition."
 
Lehigh's seniors play goalkeeper, defense, midfield and attack, but young players will make an impact as well. The seniors are the spine of the team, but to reach the team's ultimate goal, it will truly be a team effort. There is naturally a transition period for the freshmen, but it was made easier by the positive culture.
 
"You can see there's a connection between the classes, which filters down to the rest of the team," said Lambinus. "The freshmen have felt comfortable coming in, yet a little bit uncomfortable because they are just freshmen. It's never easy, but everyone has done a good job of engraining them into our team culture."
 
Preseason camp has been very successful so far. The Mountain Hawks had a scrimmage after just two days of practice and two scrimmages within the first week, which served as a good evaluation tool for Lambinus.
 
"It's always hard coming into preseason because you're adding all these freshmen to a team you worked with for a whole semester (last spring). Then you're adding seven new players," said Lambinus. "We have a good idea of what these players can do, but you never know how they're going to fit until they're here.
 
"The first week is a good opportunity to really evaluate, try some things and see how players are doing," he continued. "Once you get through that week, and with our two scrimmages, you take a good hard look at our strengths, weaknesses and how we can best formulate our team to be competitive."
 
Let's take a closer look at how the 2014 Mountain Hawks are coming together, position by position.
 
Goalie
Lehigh features two goalkeepers who are worthy of starting at the Division I level. Senior Ashley Blanks owns the #5 and 6 single-season goals against averages in school history. She posted a 1.01 GAA last season to go with an .866 save percentage, which was second-best in the Patriot League. Meanwhile, junior Ani Nahapetian recorded strong numbers as well, with a 1.45 GAA and .744 save percentage.
 
"It's great to have two returning players who have played significant minutes," said Lambinus. "It will be a difficult decision because both players are playing at a very high level and we feel that both are starting-level keepers. We are going to continue playing them both, at least through the nonleague part of the season then make a decision beyond that."
 
The duo split minutes in 2013, with Blanks owning a slight 805:00 to 681:15 advantage. Nahapetian's highlight was a 2-0 shutout at Saint Mary's while Blanks pitched a 1-0 shutout at Army.
 
"Right now, our team feels 100 percent confident that either player can do a great job," said Lambinus. "They've both improved significantly since last year. They did a lot of work in the offseason, are both really fit and are making a lot of saves. Right now, they are two of our outstanding performers in camp."
 
Defense
The Mountain Hawks are deep defensively with a strong core of six or seven players competing for playing time.
 
"We like that there's a nice mix; there are freshmen all the way through seniors," said Lambinus. "There are players from each one of the classes who will make an impact."
 
Lehigh lost starters Heather Camperson and Katie Gavalchin from the backfield, but senior Jordan Goodwin and junior Paige Elliott look to lead the charge in 2014. Goodwin enters her second season as a team co-captain while Elliott has bounced back from some injuries as a sophomore. She is returning to her freshman-year form when she was a first team All-Patriot League honoree.
 
In addition, sophomore Laura Courtney, who played midfield last season, has moved to defense and brings added experience to the back.
 
"We have three players who have started and played at a high level for us," said Lambinus.
 
Other returnees, along with a couple freshmen, are very much in the mix at the position as well.
 
"Right now, our goalies and our defensive line are playing at a high level," said Lambinus.
 
Midfield
The Mountain Hawks' leading scorer in 2013, senior Danielle Salans leads the way at midfield. Salans broke out as a junior with four goals and an assist.
 
"Danielle has done a really nice job," said Lambinus. "She plays mainly in the midfield, but played a little bit of forward last year. Danielle was a great player in the spring. She's been a great player for three years and will continue to be that. She's someone who's truly going to lead our team on the offensive end."
 
According to Lambinus, the midfield and forward positions feature the most competition right now.
 
"We have a good amount of players returning who have played a lot of minutes, but we also have a lot of young players (freshmen and sophomores) who are ready to make an impact as well," he said. "That's a lot of really good competition in those spots."
 
A returnee enjoying a strong preseason is junior Madi Morgan, who played in 15 games (with three starts) in 2013. Classmate Katie Centeno is also enjoying a strong camp.
 
"Madi has developed over the last two years and has really improved to a point where she should solidify a spot in the midfield," said Lambinus. "Katie, who's played a lot, continues to get better and do well."
 
Forward
An overall theme on the team is diversity in age and type of player. It is very evident in the front six of the team.
 
"In our recruiting, we made sure that we were recruiting different types of players who have different types of skill levels," said Lambinus. "Depending on who's in our front six, we'll be able to attack from different angles with different types of play.
 
"We're going to be able to run some players," he continued. "In the past, we've had more players play 90 minutes in those spots where now, I think we're going to have more playing and bringing different types of attack."
 
The Mountain Hawks will have several options on the forward line. Sophomores Tori Pantaleo and Leah Holmes are progressing and look to make an impact, as do other upperclassmen and some freshmen.
 
"Leah has been a very consistent player and was one of our better players in the spring and throughout preseason," said Lambinus. "Tori has done really well, too. She was injured for most of last year, but now she's healthy and I think ready to make an impact. She had a great summer, scored a lot of goals, so we're excited for her to carry that success into the fall."
 
Outlook
Lambinus is excited about the team's makeup and looks forward to watching the progression.
 
"Our schedule should challenge ourselves out of league to help prepare ourselves for league games," he said. "We see a lot of potential. The culture of the team is very strong; they have a willingness, want and desire to improve every day.
 
"We're a week and a half in. We're not where we want to be, but we see growth throughout," he continued. "I'm really looking forward to seeing the growth from game to game, how we develop and start to do the things we feel very strongly about."
 
With the depth of the Patriot League, anything can happen on any given day… or year. The Mountain Hawks strive to compete for a championship, which they last won in 2010. The first goal is making its third Patriot League Tournament in the last five years.
 
"We've seen that the Patriot League is ten deep," said Lambinus. "We've had four teams that have won it the last five years, not including Navy who's been in the championship game. You have the opportunity to go from seventh place to second or first. We want to be one of those teams competing in every one of our Patriot League games to give ourselves the opportunity to play for the championship at the very end.
 
"There are a lot more process goals that we have, but those process goals lead to the goal of competing that last Sunday of the league."

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