FROM THE NEST | SPRING 2024 | 31 Yeah, the record was something that was definitely on my mind going into the season, but I try to not focus too much on the individual stats, because it really means nothing if our team doesn't do well. And at the time that the record came, and the 100th goal, we had a really big game against American, and we won, and we played really well. So it was nice that all of those things kind of came together. I was super proud of our team, and I couldn't have done that without my teammates. Is becoming the all-time assists leader your greatest athletic achievement? I think that that’s definitely up there. Also, my sophomore year we played and beat Navy twice, which is the first time that’s happened in program history, and we beat them in overtime. And then we made it to the Patriot League Championship weekend from that, and I was the one that made the winning assist [to get there]. So our team winning that game and me having a part in the winning goal was probably the most memorable thing. A big dogpile moment after that, we were all super excited. What’s one fact that people may not know about you? I am very into cooking. I have an Instagram account called The Gluten Free Kitchen. That is my pride and joy.—Stephen Gross RACHAEL KELLY / HOLLY FASCHING ’26 HOCKEY Power Play Lehigh’s men’s hockey club earns national top 25 ranking, crowned ECHA champion. For the first time in the program’s 85-year existence, according to coach Josh Hand, Lehigh’s Division 1 men’s club ice hockey team earned national recognition as well as an Eastern Collegiate Hockey Association (ECHA) championship. Finishing with a 22-7-3 record, the best in school history, Lehigh was at one point ranked 23rd by the American Collegiate Hockey Association (ACHA), its first ever national ranking. And in its first ECHA conference playoffs since the 2019-20 season, Lehigh topped Villanova, regular season champ West Chester in overtime and finally, William Patterson, 4-1, to hoist the AJ Ruth Memorial Cup. It’s the program’s first championship since 1942, when Lehigh beat Penn, 3-2, winning the Eastern Pennsylvania Intercollegiate Hockey League. Hand says going into the season he knew they had a strong first-year class to pair with a talented roster of returning players but predicting success is difficult because each season is so different. He’s confident that the team will continue to build on the created momentum. “Next year is looking really good,” Hand says. “We will lose [to graduation] a significant number of impact players that have helped grow this program to the level of earning it national attention. The program’s success is a direct reflection of how hard they have worked. But we have a fantastic freshman class coming in as the result of the recruiting efforts of my assistant coaches, in particular, Matt Phillipes, who has been with the program for the last two years. Hopefully these new players pick up where our graduating players have left off and continue to find success.”—Stephen Gross “THE PROGRAM’S SUCCESS IS A DIRECT REFLECTION OF HOW HARD THEY HAVE WORKED.” —Josh Hand
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTA0OTQ5OA==