The Lehigh Mountain Hawks men's lacrosse team represents Lehigh University in NCAA Division I college lacrosse. The Mountain Hawks play their home games at Frank Banko Field, which is part of a complex that also includes Lehigh's soccer and field hockey venues.[2] Will Scudder is the program's current head coach since June 19, 2023.
Lehigh is a charter member of the USILA, one of about two dozen.
According to Lehigh's Epitome Yearbook, lacrosse was introduced at Lehigh in 1884 and four years later, Lehigh entered the Inter-collegiate Lacrosse Association, mostly through the efforts of Arnold K. Reese, an 1889 graduate, who captained and trained the team throughout his college career. Lehigh played its first varsity lacrosse game on May 9, 1885 against Stevens Tech.
According to the Lehigh Burr, Lehigh was a top team in the early years of inter-collegiate lacrosse. Lehigh was third in 1888, second in 1889, and was voted the National Champion in 1890. In what was billed as a "Championship Series" that season, Lehigh defeated Princeton, Johns Hopkins and Stevens Tech to win the title.
Since starting lacrosse, the team has a record of 647-715-10 in 135 lacrosse seasons.
Lehigh has made three appearances in the NCAA Tournament; their first was in 2012.[3] They earned an automatic bid into the tournament by winning the Patriot League conference tournament over Bucknell, 13–9.[4]
Their first NCAA Tournament game ended in defeat, losing 10–9 against Maryland, after being seeded number seven in the tournament.[5] The Mountain Hawks made the tournament again in 2013, in which they lost to North Carolina.[6]
In 2021, the Hawks advanced to the Patriot League final by defeating Colgate 13–9 in the semi-finals.[7] The conference championship game against Loyola, scheduled for May 9, 2021, was canceled after an outbreak of Covid-19 on the Loyola team. By virtue of the no-contest, Lehigh became the Patriot League's automatic qualifier for the 2021 NCAA Division I Men's Lacrosse Championship.[8] The Hawks were defeated in the first round by Rutgers.[9]
Head coach Kevin Cassese, who had led the Mountain Hawks to each of their conference tournament championships and NCAA tournament appearances, left the program to become associate head coach at Virginia on June 19, 2023. Associate head coach/defensive coordinator Will Scudder was promoted to succeed Cassese on the same day.[10] The Mountain Hawks won the Patriot League tournament in Scudder's first year at the helm in 2024 despite low expectations entering the season.[11]
The following is a list of Lehigh’s season results during the NCAA Division I era starting in 1971, as well as certain pre-NCAA era seasons:
†NCAA canceled 2020 collegiate activities due to the COVID-19 virus.