Lehigh Football Nation

The men's basketball team has not made things easy for themselves this weekend after their 72-51 embarassment at Sojka Pavillion on Wednesday. With 15 points in the first half in that game against Bucknell - that's not a typo - it's amazing to think that 15-12 Lehigh (Real Time RPI: 243) is still in the running for the No. 4 seed. But should Lehigh win at 15-13 Holy Cross (Real Time RPI: 177) - and get some help from Navy or Bucknell - Lehigh will be hosting a first-round game for the third straight year. Think the athletic department is upbeat about Lehigh's chances at 3:30 p.m. at Worcester? Think again: The Mountain Hawks last win over the Crusaders in Worcester was a 70-69 victory on February 11, 1998. Since then Lehigh has averaged 53 points per game with a high of only 67 in the 1999 meeting. The last time Lehigh defeated the Crusaders in Worcester Justin Maneri was eight years old and the number-one song in America was Celine Dion’s "My Heart Will Go On

Last week, Lehigh announced the incoming football recruiting class of 2013 of 26 recruits. I interviewed coach Coen last week about this, and here's what he had to say. Coach Coen: I feel good about it. There were some needs that were more glaring than others - defensive line and wide receivers. My recruiting philosophy since the whole time we've been here is to recruit a solid class and recruit every position. Traditionally all the Patriot League schools take between 25 and 30 kids a year, so there are big classes every year and I think the smart thing to do is to try to make sure you address every position on the team so you don't get stuck with the situation where you desperately need to recruit a certain number of kids at one position. LFN: Regarding the names in the incoming class, Schuykill Haven RB Zach Barket certainly jumps off the page in terms of his statistics. Coen: His statistics are really unbelievable. I watched his tape over and over again just to

Of all the ation this weekend, it was the match that didn't make ESPNU - the Lehigh grapplers' final home wrestling dual before the EIWA championships in two weeks - that was the story of thw weekend. The Mountain Hawk wrestlers ended their historic dual season in style with a 24-12 win , giving them a perfect dual record against EIWA foes and also set a school record for dual wrestling wins in a season (23). Tied going into the final three matches, it was junior 184 lb David Craig , freshman 197 lb Joe Kennedy and freshman heavyweight Zach Rey who swept the last three bouts to secure the historic win at home. Probably the best match of the afternoon came with senior 149 ln Trevor Chinn, wrestling for the last time in Leeman-Turner arena: Once again the Lehigh fans were on their feet after No. 15 Trevor Chinn earned a tight 3-1 victory over No. 11 Cesar Grajales at 149. Each wrestler earned an escape to start the second and third periods, and with less than one minute remain