Lehigh’s Jamie Luchini to play for Bethlehem Steel FC

When Jamie Luchini graduates in May, he won’t have to travel far for his job.

The Lehigh men’s soccer senior forward/midfielder signed with Bethlehem Steel Football Club on April 6 and will join the team after he completes his degree this semester.

It’s been a long process for Luchini, who has been a staple in the Mountain Hawks’ lineup since 2013. It was after that first season of leading the team in goals that he says he started seriously considering the possibility of joining a professional team.

“After my sophomore year, going into my junior year was when I realized that it was something that was possibly realistic and something I’d like to try out,” Luchini said.

Luchini was invited to take part in the Major League Soccer Player Combine in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, this past January, and was the only Patriot League player who received an invitation. There he played with other top talent from around the country. According to Lehigh coach Dean Koski, who went to Florida to watch him play, Luchini was not outmatched by his competition.

Despite this honor and his performance at the combine, Luchini wasn’t drafted in the MLS SuperDraft and had to decide on his next course of action.

“Once I realized I went undrafted in the SuperDraft, I kind of weighed my options out, and there were a couple of different teams I could’ve looked at and potentially signed with,” Luchini said.

He decided on Bethlehem Steel FC for numerous reasons, citing the team’s close proximity to Lehigh and its ability to offer him opportunities other teams couldn’t.

One of these opportunities is the possibility for advancement into MLS, which Luchini maintained was his ultimate goal. Although Bethlehem Steel is in the United Soccer League, it’s also an affiliate team for the Philadelphia Union and players can be sent up to the major league squad.

Luchini didn’t officially sign until last week, but he’d been working out with the team for the past couple of months in Philadelphia while simultaneously taking classes to finish his degree, which made for a difficult schedule.

“It’s a huge commitment,” Koski said of Luchini’s dual workload. “But when you want to be a pro, you have to make those kinds of sacrifices.”

If all goes well, Luchini believes those sacrifices will pay off. Lehigh co-captain and junior midfielder Danny Gonzalez thinks it will, and sees Luchini having success at the next level.

“Around the box he really wants to score, and I think that knack that he has and that want to finish the ball is something that’s huge,” Gonzalez said. “He’s very good at finishing, which is hard to find at any level of soccer.”

Luchini used this goal-scoring prowess all throughout his college career, leading the Mountain Hawks in goals in 2013 and 2014 and in points for the past three seasons. He scored 18 goals and accumulated 17 assists over his four years in the program.

His resume also includes being named Patriot League Tournament MVP in 2015 with three goals and two assists in the team’s three games as well as being named to the All-Patriot League team twice.

Playing for Bethlehem Steel, Luchini will have his home games at Goodman Stadium, so Lehigh students will continue to be able to watch him as he begins the next stage of his career.