Graphic by Zion Olojede (In-game photo courtesy of Lehigh Athletics)
This is the first edition of what will become a weekly installment in The Brown and White sports section. The Must-See Mountain Hawk series gives weekly recognition to Lehigh’s top performer on the field during the week.
Through the first six games of her career, Lehigh freshman goalkeeper Sam Miller has already asserted herself as one of the Patriot League’s top goalkeepers.
Miller has yet to surrender a goal in her first 560 minutes of action in brown and white and has anchored Lehigh to five straight shutouts to begin the season. The Commack, New York, native has garnered Patriot League Rookie of the Week honors twice this season. To put that in perspective, she is only the third Lehigh women’s soccer player to win Patriot League Rookie of the Week twice in the same year and she did that within the first three weeks of the season.
This week, Miller tallied 12 saves in two 2-0 victories over Binghamton University and Villanova University. Lehigh picked up its sixth straight shutout which is the first time the Mountain Hawks have achieved that feat in school history. Miller has played every single minute in goal during that stretch, and she credits her teammates for the early success.
“Our whole team has bought into defending, even our strikers,” Miller said. “Our midfielders and back line have been tremendous. I haven’t had to work as much the past couple games because of them. I can’t say enough about those guys.”
Eleven months ago, Miller was leading her high school team, Commack, to an 18-1 season. Fast-forward to September 2016, and she’s a key to Lehigh’s 5-0-1 start. She’s made the transition from the high school game to college game seem effortless, but Miller begs to differ.
“It’s definitely a tough transition,” she said. “Everything is just faster and more physical. A lot of things just develop quicker.”
The arts and sciences major also praised junior defender Alyssa Riporti for being a mentor and leader for her during that transition period, saying she’s never respected a teammate as much as she respects Riporti.
Miller is on pace for 82 saves this regular season with a possibility of increasing that mark if Lehigh secures a postseason berth. In terms of the future, if Miller continues this pace throughout her tenure at Lehigh, she’ll land inside the top 5 of most saves all-time for a Mountain Hawk.
Miller and the Mountain Hawks will look to continue their strong play Saturday afternoon against Holy Cross. The game will be Lehigh’s first Patriot League matchup of the year.
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