This is the first edition of a weekly installment in The Brown and White sports section. The Must-See Mountain Hawk series gives recognition to Lehigh’s top-performing athletes.
Men’s soccer freshman forward Josh Luchini has had a strong start to his rookie season, scoring four goals and adding one assist in Lehigh’s first 10 games of the season. Luchini has appeared in all 10 games for the Mountain Hawks, starting in nine.
Two of Luchini’s goals served as game-winners for the Mountain Hawks. He scored twice in Lehigh’s 3-0 win over Army West Point.
“I want to score however many goals needed to help the team out and translate that to a Patriot League Championship,” Luchini said. “We want the championship so bad and I just have to keep performing to make sure we get the results.”
As a senior at North Allegheny High School, Luchini posted 36 goals and 17 assists and was selected as one of 38 high school All-Americans. He scored the only goal in the All-American game.
“He has this flair to him playing up top, this mentality that he’s going to score on you no matter what happens,” said Nick Jennings, freshman midfielder and Luchini’s teammate. “He’s great making runs behind, and his play on the ball is superb as well, but it’s tough to ignore that flair.”
Jennings, who was also named a high school All-American alongside Luchini, said he can see Luchini following in senior forward Forrest’s footsteps and produce a similar career. Luchini’s nine points trail only Forrest’s 13 for the team lead.
“Luchini and Forrest are definitely different players, but they both produce for the team and they have that same mentality so I definitely think Luchini can score like Forrest can,” Jennings said.
As the Mountain Hawks head into Patriot League play, Luchini is a key to their success.
“My goal here is to win four Patriot League Championships.” Luchini said. “I want to do whatever is going to help the team accomplish that.”
Honorable mentions:
- Rashawn Allen, football: Allen ran for 147 yards and two touchdowns in his first career start at FBS opponent Navy on Sept. 15.
- Alina Lam, volleyball: Lam had her second-consecutive double-double while also earning career-highs in both assists (45) and digs (17) versus Holy Cross on Sept. 29.
- Matthew Peralta, men’s soccer: The junior defender scored the game-winner in overtime against Boston University on Sept. 29.
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