South Mountaineer Volume 42, Issue 14

              Volume 13, Issue 14
SoufaMoirnkmieer
Lehigh University Athletics Weekly
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December 7, 1999
Like Deja Vu All Over Again
The 1999 football season seemed
to pick up right where it left off
as the Mountain Hawks rolled
through the first seven games of
the season, amassing 333 total
points to their opponents 87
points en route to another Patriot League title and another
trip to the postseason playoffs.
It was a season in which the
record books were updated, and
proud Lehigh fans were witness
to a team that will rank
among the very best in
school history.
Opening day at
Fordham foreshadowed
the season that lay
ahead with a 49-7 win
over the Rams. Running back Ronald Jean
found the endzone on
four different occasions,
and quarterback Phil
Stambaugh completed
over 80% of his passes,
two for touchdowns.
For the Lehigh defense,
it was a performance
that proved to be indicative of future performances. Ian Eason and company held Fordham's rushing
attack to just 48 yards, and registered three interceptions.
In its Goodman Stadium
opener, a crowd of 10,477
watched on as the Mountain
Hawk "air and land" show
posted 554 total yards in a 56-
10 romping of Monmouth University. Once again, the Lehigh
"D" was as stingy as ever, allowing a meager 196 total yards.
The Mountain Hawks found
themselves en route to
Princeton, NJ the following
weekend for a historical event,
the first ever home game for the
Tigers playing under the lights.
20,000 fans piled into a glowing
Princeton Stadium to witness a
31-0 Lehigh rout. On this night,
it was the defense that dominated the game, shutting out
Princeton's offensive attack
completely. Ronald Jean continued his streak of 100+ consecutive games and scored three
times. Wide receiver Kody
Fedorcha came close to a career best evening, pulling in 10
catches for 123 yards. To date:
Lehigh 136, Opponent 17.
The twelfth-ranked Mountain Hawks returned the next
weekend to lineup against another Ivy League foe, Columbia.
In front of 10,829 football fans,
the Lions proved to be no match
for Lehigh's high-powered offense which accumulated an astounding 600 yards, bombarding
the Lion defense on the ground
and through the air with equal
success. Phil Stambaugh tied
a career best five TD passes, and
threw with pinpoint accuracy
for 272 yards...and this was in
only two and a half quarters of
play. Brendan Moore led the
"iron-curtain" defense with ten
tackles and a sack.
Game five of the season was
played on the picturesque autumnal campus of Dartmouth
University in Hanover, NH, the
longest road trip of the season.
The offense controlled the
gamethrough three quarters, going into the fourth with a commanding 27-2 lead. Although
the Big Green was able to muster two last minute drives, a 30-
Please see FOOTBALL, Page 7
Second Place at Sheridan
Photo by Christopher J. Christian
Senior Mark Dufresne won his second tournament of the season, notching a victory at
174 lbs.
In a superb team race, the University of Nebraska capitalized
on 11 1/2 more bonus points
than host Lehigh to claim an
exciting 166.5 to 161 Sheridan
Tournament win this past Saturday at Stabler Arena. The
Engineers placed all 10 of their
wrestlers, as compared to nine
for the Huskers.
LEHIGH HIGHLIGHTS:
125: Final: In a close and well-
fought standoff, EIWA
placewinner Jeremy Sluyter of
ESU scored the only takedown,
beating Lehigh's Bruce Kelly 4-
1, adding an escape and 1:04
riding time. Sluyter fended off
several deep shots by Kelly.
133: Tristan Boyd was pinned
in the wrestle-backs, settling for
sixth place, after winning 7-5
over Gaysek of Virginia Tech.
The final was won by Todd
Beckerman of Nebraska, 13-3
over Mike Coyle of James Madison.
141: Final: lOth-ranked Sean
Gray of Virginia Tech, reversed
Lehigh's Matt Goldstein in the
second period, while Goldstein
scored a takedown early in the
third period to tie the score 2-2;
another Gray reversal plus
riding time offset, a stall point
awarded to Goldstein, for a 5-3
final.
149: Final: Fourth-ranked Dave
Esposito started slowly against
tough #11 Joe Henson, owning
a 5-1 lead after two periods, adding two more takedowns, an escape and riding time for an impressive 11-5 win.
157: Final: Brian Snyder, Nebraska, 15-7; Chris Vitale
gamely withstood his injured
ankle from the Arizona trip, finishing fourth with his 11-8 loss
to Lauer of Rutgers.
165: Final: In the first of two
memorable finals, Travis Doto
trailed lOth-ranked Chris Martin 3-0 with less than 30 seconds
left, before he escaped and
scored a takedown, apparently
losing 4-3 on riding time. But an
illegal figure called against Martin put the bout into overtime
and Doto scored within 10 seconds to claim a spectacular
comeback win.
174: Final: Mark Dufresne
won his second tournament of
the year and raised his season
mark to 11-1 with a takedown
with 0:13 left, in a 6-4 win in
which he and Ati Connor were
never separated by more than a
point for the last six minutes.
184: Final: Rob Rohn matched
Dufresne's score, by beating
18th-ranked Charles McTorry,
Nebraska, and notched two
takedowns to one, just like
Dufresne's bout. It brought the
Lehigh record vs. the Huskers
to a perfect 5-0 for the day.
197: Final: Third-ranked Brad
Vering solved the funky style of
Rider's 15th-ranked Todd
Palmisano, with an 8-2 victory.
Hwt: Final: Rider's Marc
DeFrancesco won his rubber
match with Shawn Laughlin,
4-1, after they split their bouts
last year (Sheridan and dual).
Stambaugh Trades Brown
and White for Blue and
Gray
An invitation has been extended
to quarterback Phil
Stambaugh to play in the Kelly
Tires Blue-Gray All-Star Football Classic.The Classic is
played annually in Montgomery,
Alabama, on Christmas Day
and is televised by ABC. Invitations are extended to seniors
who have exhibited outstanding
play and leadership on the field.
Stambaugh finished the regular season with 26 touchdown
passes and 2,995 yards, rewriting many of the schools passing
records. He has also led the
Mountain Hawks to a 20-1 regular season record over the past
two years, and back-to-back
trips to the national playoffs.
hoto by Jim MiddlekauH/Marcus Photography
Team Looks Green in Loss
to Vermont
Lehigh lost a tough game to Vermont on Saturday afternoon by
a 71-59 margin at Patrick Gym
in front of 1,612 fans. The
Mountain Hawks got off to a
good start and the game was
tied at 25 at the half.
Vermont shot only 29% in the
first half but came out in the
second half firing, shooting 59%.
Tobe Carberry led the attack
scoring 13 of his 19 points in the
second half. Rebounding was
the difference in the game as
Vermont pulled down 46 rebounds as compared to Lehigh's
34.
Lehigh was led by Sah
Brown with 12 points and five
rebounds. Jared Hess and
Fido Willybiro each chipped in
with 11 points in the losing effort for the Mountain Hawks.
Lehigh shot only 38% on the afternoon as compared to
Vermont's 43%.
Tierney Leads, but Lehigh
Loses
Lehigh dropped to 4-3 on the
young season with a 56-64 loss
to St. Francis (NY). Leading the
Mountain Hawks were freshman phenom Anne Tierney
with 15 points, eight rebounds,
and co-captain Danielle
Baldwin with 11 points, four
steals, and five assists. The
Lehigh women shot only 30%
from the field in the second half,
while the Terriers dropped 40%
of their shots. The Mountain
Hawks next take on Temple
University this Wednesday December eighth at Stabler Arena.
Lehigh Opens Track
Season
The Lehigh track & tield teams
opened their 1999-2000 seasons
against Millersvile on Friday
night at Rauch Field House.
While the meet was not scored,
Lehigh clearly outscored
Millersville as they claimed first
place in 23 out of 28 events.
Performing well for the
Mountain Hawks were freshman Todd Johnson, a highly-
touted multi-event specialist,
who won the pole vault, long
jump, and high jump competitions. Senior Chris Bryce won
the weight event and the shot
put event. Senior Nii Darko
won the 200 and 400 meter
races.
On the women's side, senior
Allison Merkle won the 60 m
hurdles, the long jump, and the
high jump competitions.
Higgins is Finalist
Lehigh's head football coach
Kevin Higgins has been named
the regional GTE Coach of the
Year in division I-AA by the
American Football Coaches Association. The AFCA selects five
coaches in each division in recognition of their outstanding
leadership and success.
"What makes this award so
special is that it is the only
award voted exclusively by the
coaches themselves," AFCA Director Grant Teaff said.
Coach Higgins led the Mountain Hawks to a 10-2 season and
a trip to the NCAA National
Playoffs for the second year in
row.