Interestingly enough, these two teams are coming off contradictory weekends. DU heading into the week was ranked No. 3 and Lehigh didn’t make the Top 20 for the first time in awhile. Now, both just lost what were considered easy matches for them.
Denver Pioneers
Other than a short second quarter spurt, the Pioneers were out-performed by Ohio State. Statistically, everything was in Denver’s favor, however the outcome was different. Ohio State topped DU 13-11.
Yet, I wouldn’t factor this into the preview of Denver facing Lehigh in Bethlehem, PA. On the contrary, I believe Ohio State got lucky, which keeps DU a threat to Lehigh.
The Pioneers won more faceoffs than Ohio State, spent less time with penalties, had more shots, ground balls and clears. There were four clears botched by DU, and it seems Ohio State was able to capitalize on at least one of them by gaining two points over Denver.
Lehigh Mountainhawks
Lehigh is also coming off a surprising loss to Navy by a one-point margin. Despite a big mid-game push from Lehigh, Navy was able to put the Hawks in their nests.
Navy stole more draw wins than Lehigh while also making more saves, turnovers, and nearly the same number of ground balls. Lehigh stays consistent with clears, ground balls, shots on goal (and in general), and has an uncanny ability to capitalize on man-up opportunities.
THE GAME
Despite awkward performances this weekend from both squads, this should be a stellar game. For one, the loss for Lehigh did not help their ambitions of getting back into the Top 20, so they’ll be looking to improve both their gameplay and ranking. Denver just shook the standings with their win over Notre Dame and now their loss will most likely effect their ranking outcome come Monday morning. They’ll want to secure both their reputation and rankings.
Battles should take place at faceoff, transitions and shooting. Both teams are known to take numerous shots and also capitalize on awkward field transitions.
