Lehigh-Harvard gridiron showdown available on CSTV

Lehigh-Harvard gridiron showdown available on CSTV

It is the second nationally-televised Patriot League regular season game of the season

CENTER VALLEY, Pa. – One of the top games in the country this week involves the Patriot League, and CSTV will have the action live as No. 11 Lehigh (2-1, 1-0 PL) travels to take on No. 15 Harvard (2-0, 1-0 Ivy) at 12:30 p.m. at Harvard Stadium in Cambridge, Mass.

CSTV reaches about 65 million homes through deals with distributors such as Comcast, DIRECTV, Time Warner, Charter, Cox and Adelphia. It is available on DIRECTV channel 610. Further information can be obtained at www.cstv.com.

Tom McCarthy and Scott Zolak will have the call. Locally in the Lehigh Valley, the game will be picked up by WFMZ.

The Mountain Hawks are coming off a 28-26 win at VMI despite committing five turnovers and nine penalties. Eric Rath was named Patriot League Offensive Player of the Week after rushing for 118 yards and a touchdown on 18 carries. Teammate Julian Austin earned Defensive Player of the Week honors. He tied a career-high with eight tackles, and also made two of the biggest plays in the game – a fumble recovery that he returned 34 yards for a first quarter touchdown, and an interception in Lehigh territory with 18 seconds left to secure the victory.

Harvard’s success has been well-documented. The Crimson are the current owners of a 13-game winning streak dating back to 2003, the longest active streak in I-AA football. Harvard’s Clifton Dawson is the nation’s top rusher with 342 yards and four touchdowns.

This is Lehigh’s second game of the season against a ranked opponent, as the Mountain Hawks lost at then-No. 10 Delaware, 34-33, in overtime on Sept. 10. Harvard is matching up with a Patriot League school for the second time this season. The Crimson won at Holy Cross in their season opener, 31-21, on Sept. 17.

The Patriot League will be looking to exact revenge on the Ivy League this week. On Sept. 17, the Ivy League won all six non-League games against the Patriot League. This week, in addition to the Lehigh-Harvard matchup, Colgate hosts Cornell and Holy Cross travels to Yale. The other games on this week’s schedule are Marist at Bucknell and Lafayette at Georgetown in the lone PL matchup of the weekend. The Colgate game is available on Time Warner and the Lafayette Sports Network will show Lafayette-Georgetown. Fox Sports Net-Pittsburgh will tape delay the broadcast.

CSTV had the action earlier this year when Princeton visited Lafayette on Sept. 17, a 23-21 win for the Tigers. The final installment of Patriot League football on the network this regular season will be on Nov. 19, when Lafayette and Lehigh, defending League co-champions, meet for the 141st time at 12:30 p.m. at Goodman Stadium in Bethlehem, Pa. The Leopards are currently tied for the early lead atop the Patriot League standings with Holy Cross. Each has identical 1-0 League records.

The Patriot League, an NCAA Division I athletics conference founded on the principle of admitting athletes who are academically representative of their class, is in its second decade of academic and athletic excellence. A successful Division I-AA football conference since 1986 and an all-sport conference since 1990, membership includes American, Army, Bucknell, Colgate, Holy Cross, Lafayette, Lehigh and Navy, while three additional institutions hold associate membership. Patriot League member institutions are among the oldest and most prestigious in the nation, graduating alumni who are well prepared for life with the ability to make meaningful contributions to their community and society in general. In the most recent NCAA Graduation Rate Report of student-athletes, the Patriot League ranked FIRST among NCAA Division I conferences.

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Chris Graziano
Assistant Director of Media Relations
Patriot League
3773 Corporate Parkway, Suite 190
Center Valley, PA 18034
Phone: 610-289-1963