Oct. 28, 2009

Adam Welch never had to look far to find his goal.

The former Moravian Academy soccer star grew up in Bethlehem and only had to look a few miles in one direction to make Lehigh University his college of choice.

When he arrived, the standout offensive player found an immediate home at the opposite end of the field, playing outside defender in a back four that included first team All-American John O'Reilly and third-team All-American Joe Verdi.

Welch is now a senior at Lehigh and earned second-team All-Patriot League honors as a defender the past two seasons. This year, Welch again started out on defense as the anchor of the squad, but found a new role that utilized the talents he flashed in high school.

After scoring just one goal and no assists during his previous three collegiate seasons, Welch moved up top on restarts and scored three goals and five assists for a team-leading 11 points, prompting 18th year head coach Dean Koski to make a switch. Three games ago, he moved Welch to forward, and while he hasn't scored a goal in that span, he's drawn enough attention to allow Lehigh (7-5-3, 2-2-1) to go 1-0-2 in the process.

For the complete article by Gary R. Blockus of the Allentown (Pa.) Morning Call click here