FROM THE NEST | SUMMER 2023 | 25 “We want people in the stands, we want to have the home field advantage, we want Goodman to be rocking,” Cahill said, likening it to the atmosphere in the late 1990s-early 2000s when Lehigh made four straight FCS (Football Championship Subdivision) playoff appearances and won a Lambert Cup Championship. “Yes, it will be that way for the last game of the year when we play it at home [against Lafayette], but we also want it to be that way when we’re playing a different opponent that comes in here and make it a hard place to play.” Cahill acknowledged there are no quick fixes. It will take time to build Lehigh football back to what it once was, especially for a program that, despite winning its last Patriot League Championship in 2017, has not experienced a winning season since 2016. Its first test on Sept. 2—against Villanova—will not make it any easier. Cahill referred to Villanova as a “perennial powerhouse,” but he welcomes the challenge. Part of the reason is because the team is a model of what he envisions for Lehigh football. “I look at Villanova as a program that you want to replicate,” Cahill said. “It’s a team that has won national championships, has been in the playoffs numerous times. ... It’s an in-state, FCS school with high academics. Why can’t we be Villanova? Why can’t we be to that level? We have been and we were, we have to get back to that.” Through a new culture, and recruiting the best football players who are also academically driven, Cahill believes Lehigh can become the program it once was, a program viewed as Villanova is now. “You want people to look at [their schedule and] say, ‘Oh, man. We’ve got to open up against Lehigh,’” Cahill said. Cahill’s focus for the 2023 season isn’t a win total. It’s seeing his team be competitive and tough, and play smart. If that happens, he said, a lot of the games the team has been losing in the fourth quarter will become wins. The players have already begun to eliminate mental mistakes, some that led to penalties last year, and have been working on their attention to detail, he said. Cahill believes progress has been made.—Stephen Gross ATHLETICS NOTES PREMIER PICK Mike Sisselberger ’23, faceoff specialist for the men’s lacrosse team, was selected fifth overall in the Premier Lacrosse League’s May draft by the Archers Lacrosse Club. His Patriot League records include all-time leader in ground balls (493) and all-time faceoff win percentage (67.8%). Additionally, the three-time All-American owns the NCAA record for faceoff winning percentage (79.5%), setting the mark in 2021. Sisselberger, who also was a member of Lehigh’s wrestling team his final two years at the university, is the second Mountain Hawk to ever be drafted in the Premier Lacrosse League. Conor Gaffney ’21 was also taken by the Archers (21st overall) in 2021. LEAVING ON TOP After guiding the Lehigh field hockey program to its first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance and second Patriot League title in program history in 2022, Caitlin Dallmeyer has stepped down as head coach to accept a position at The Social Institute. In 2021, Dallmeyer, who led the program for seven years, guided the team to its first winning season since 1994. In 2022, Lehigh’s 13 wins were tied for second-most in the program’s history, matching the 1984 total and bested only by the 1986 team (14 wins). Kelsi Lykens, previously the head coach at the University of New Haven, was tabbed as the program’s new head coach. Geoffrey Jamiel ’26 DOUGLAS BENEDICT / ACADEMIC IMAGE RIVALRY ADJUSTMENTS For the first time in nearly 80 years, a school will host backto-back games in The Rivalry. To coincide with the celebration of Lafayette’s bicentennial anniversary during the 2025-26 academic year, the location of the 2024 and 2025 Rivalry games have been swapped, meaning Lehigh will host both the 2023 and 2024 games at Goodman Stadium. Lafayette’s Fisher Stadium in Easton will host the 2025 and 2026 games. In 2027, the teams will return to Lehigh and resume alternating locations.
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