Soccer Game Central

HAMILTON, N.Y. (9/27/11)- The Colgate men's soccer team will play its second Patriot League game of the season on Saturday, Oct. 1 when it travels to Lehigh for a matchup at 4 p.m.

The Raiders are coming off their second setback of the season, falling to American in their league-opener last weekend. The team will be looking for its first league win against the Mountain Hawks.

POINT LEADERS
Colgate (5-2-1, 0-1 PL) is led by senior co-captains Steven Miller and Mike Reese. Miller, who is second in the league in points, points per games, goals and goals per game, while Reese has two game-wining goals for four points. They are followed by junior Shane Conlin and freshman Jimmy McLaughlin, who both have three points from one goal and one assist each.

PATRIOT LEAGUE PRESEASON POLL
The Colgate men's soccer team was picked to finish on top of the league in the 2011 Patriot League Preseason Poll voted by head coaches and sports information directors in the league. The Raiders, who had 94 points and 10 first-place votes, were projected to finish first above the 2010 defending PL tournament champions, Bucknell, which had 86 points and 4 first-place votes.

SERIES
This will be the 26th meeting between the two teams, with Colgate leading the all-time series 12-9-4 since they first met in 1989. The Raiders own a 3-5-3 away record against Lehigh, losing the last road match 2-1 in 2009. The most recent meeting between the two teams was last season when Colgate defeated the Mountain Hawks 1-0 at home.

SCOUTING LEHIGH
The Mountain Hawks (4-1-3), which were picked to finish fourth in the preseason poll behind Colgate, Bucknell and American, are coming off a 1-0 double overtime win over the Bison in their first league game and a 0-0 tie with La Salle last week. The team also has wins over Yale, Stanford, and Saint Peter's and has ties against No. 22 California (Berkeley) and Stony Brook. Its only loss this season was to Fordham on Aug. 31.

Lehigh, which is on a six-game unbeaten streak, is led by senior Joe Puleo, sophomore James Meyerkord and senior Kevin Strunk. Puleo has a team-high five points from two goals and one assist, while Meyerkord and Puleo both have three points from one goal and one assist apiece. Defending the net is sophomore Ciaran Nugent who has a 0.22 goals against average, six shut outs and a total of 36 saves for a .947 save percentage. Nugent leads the league in goals against average, save percentage and shut outs.

PL WEEKLY AWARD WINNERS
The Raiders have had four players win a Patriot League Weekly Award this season, including two defensive players of the week, one rookie and one offensive player award. Senior Mike Reese and junior Patrick Letourneau have each won a Defensive Player of the Week Award, while freshman Jimmy McLaughlin won the first Rookie of the Week honor and senior Steven Miller received Offensive Player of the Week accolades.