Taking a look at the most notable games of the 2021 season

The Mountain Hawks have had another eventful year of sporting events. In light of Lehigh athletics fans’ inability to attend most sporting events this year due to COVID 19, The Brown and White compiled a list containing some of the most memorable games this year. 

Lehigh women’s basketball captured the Patriot League Championship 

The women’s basketball team defeated Boston University 64-65 to become Patriot League Champions on March 14. The team was up 23-13 at the end of the first quarter but started cooling down in the second quarter after a scoreless six minutes. By halftime, the score tightened up to 31-29.

Notables:

• Frannie Hottinger scored at 7:36 to solidify a 12 point lead, after which the Mountain Hawks were scoreless for six minutes in the second quarter.
• Emily Esposito hit a last-second three-pointer for the Terriers to outscore Lehigh 18-6 at the half. 

The Terriers came out strong in the second half, hitting four straight points to get their first lead since early in the first quarter. However, Lehigh came back to seal the title in the fourth quarter.

Notables:

• Lehigh recovered after crucial three-pointers by Hottinger and Jamie Behar to take back the lead by the end of the third quarter.
• After a Lehigh time-out, the team scored eight straight points and left BU’s offense scoreless for over four minutes to end the game as Patriot League Champions.

Women’s lacrosse beat Navy to secure a spot in the Patriot League Tournament

Lehigh women’s lacrosse beat Navy on April 10 for the first time in 10 years and 11 games, with a final score of 12-7. The Mountain Hawks held leads of 2-0 and 3-2 early on in the first quarter before Navy got ahead at 4-3. The game remained neck-and-neck, with a tied score of 5-5 at the half.

Notables:

• Gil Eby scored two consecutive goals for Navy at 12:08 and 19:03 to tie the score in the first half.
• Katia Carnevale was assisted by Sondra Dickey to take back the lead with just under four minutes left of the first half. 

Navy hit a two-goal surge at the start off the second half, gaining a lead of 7-6. Then, Sondra Dickey’s three-goal streak put Lehigh in the lead. Navy remained scoreless for the remainder of the game, allowing the Mountain Hawks to take a win of 12-7. 

Notables:

• Sondra Dickey scored three consecutive goals in the second half, putting Lehigh ahead 9-7. 
• Defensive plays, including Hannah Cermack’s caused turnover with 4:29 remaining, allowed the Mountain Hawks to maintain their lead.

Men’s basketball hits buzzer-beater to beat rival Lafayette 

Senior guard Marques Wilson hits a last-second shot in overtime in Lehigh’s season opener to beat Lafayette 90-89. It was the team’s first time back on the court since losing to Colgate in the Patriot League Quarterfinals in March of 2020. 

Notables:

• Jakob Alamudun ended a strong first half with a three-point play in the final minute. The second-half still ended with Lehigh down by six. 
• Lafayette guard E.J. Stephens hit a shot with two seconds left to put the Leopards up 89-87.
• Reed Fenton got the ball to Marques Wilson, who quickly turned around and shot a buzzer-beater to win the game.

Despite Lafayette’s seniors Justin Jaworski and E.J. Stephens, who collectively scored 67 points, Lehigh still came through with a victory to kick off the season.

Lehigh wrestling wins EIWA Championship for the fourth consecutive year

The Mountain Hawks won their fourth straight EIWA Championship at Spooky Nook Sports Complex in Manheim, Pennsylvania, on February 26. All 10 wrestlers qualified for Nationals, four took home individual titles, and the remaining finished in the top six.

Notables:

• Jaret Lane, Malyke Hines, Jake Jakobsen and Jordan Wood all took home first place. 
• Jordan Wood won his fourth individual championship, making him the fifth person in school history to be a four-time winner and the first EIWA heavyweight to win four titles. 

Lehigh men’s tennis won quarterfinals in a sudden victory

Lehigh advanced to the semifinals after a thrilling win over Boston University in the quarterfinals on April 19. The Mountain Hawks started off sending a strong message by winning the doubles point. 

Notables:

• Zack Elliott, paired with Steven Nazaroff, and Harry Wang, paired with Jacob Edelchik, each led the No. 1 and No. 2 teams to 6-0 and 6-1 victories. 
• Boston took the No. 3 victory in straight sets, 6-4, 6-3.

With Lehigh leading 3-1, Boston began gaining advantage late in the singles matches. Although it was at one point looking bleak for Lehigh, Jacob Edelchik, Jornal Paul and Gary Fishkin won their singles matches to lock in the win.

Notables: 

• Gary Fishkin’s tie-breaker victory sealed the win for Lehigh.

Fishkin trailed 3-0 in the final set, but was able to send the match to the tiebreakers. Fishkin was up 6-3 in the tie-breaker when Boston’s Jose Maria Robalino came back to tie the match, but Fishkin prevailed to solidify the win.