James Spence

Classroom

Spence owns a 3.0 GPA as he works towards a Master of Science in Business Management. He graduated last May with a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering with related coursework including Strength of Materials, Thermodynamics, Fluid Dynamics and much more.

In his undergraduate career, Spence posted a perfect 4.0 GPA in the fall of 2020, has garnered the Faculty Athletics Council Award and has been named to the Patriot League Academic Honor Roll.

Spence has significant experience in the engineering field, including working as a field engineer intern for Allan Myers in Wilmington, Delaware last summer. While there, he worked under project engineers in the materials division on an asphalt plant. For Spence’s senior capstone project at Lehigh, he designed and prototyped a windshield wiper cover that fits all windshield wipers to save time and money on traditional wipers.

Character

Spence has undertaken a number of leadership positions, most notably serving as a team captain in 2022.

He also has significant experience in Lehigh’s Flight 45 Leadership Program, which included serving as a Student-Athlete Mentor from February, 2018 to May, 2019. In that program, he assisted incoming first years during their first semester. The program included participation in weekly group meetings and individual meetings with each of the first years on his team.

The year prior, Spence was chosen to be a member of Emerging Leaders – programming engagement to become a better leader through weekly sessions and activities. Meanwhile, Spence has also served as an assistant coach for the Springfield Cougars Lacrosse Club since 2016.

Community

Over his career, Spence and the Mountain Hawks have continually taken part in community service, especially early in his career (before the COVID-19 pandemic). Just a few days into some fall semesters, the men’s lacrosse program held an annual community service kickoff for the City of Bethlehem Parks and Recreation.

Lehigh has a strong connection to the HEADstrong Foundation, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization committed to providing essential services to improve lives affected by cancer. This past fall, the Mountain Hawks took part in HEADstrong’s Lax Stache Madness and raised nearly $13,000 (as of December) for the fight against cancer, with Lehigh fifth among Division I programs in money raised. In 2018, the Mountain Hawks absolutely shattered their goal, raising over $20,000 for HEADstrong and the fight against cancer.

In addition, every holiday season, Spence and the Mountain Hawks take part in Adopt-A-Family where they provide a holiday for a local underprivileged family. The process typically includes shopping for gifts, wrapping and delivering them in early December. The pandemic has changed how things looked, but Lehigh Athletics continued to raise funds and help local families in need in different ways.

Competition

A five-year starter in goal, Spence owns more than 500 career saves and a 35-17 record between the pipes. Every season he’s played, the Mountain Hawks have advanced to the Patriot League Championship Game (2018, 2019 and 2021). In 2020, Lehigh was 5-1 & 2-0 in league play and looked destined for another deep postseason run before the season was cancelled due to the COVID pandemic. Then in 2021, the Mountain Hawks were the No. 1 seed in the Patriot League Tournament and finished 9-0 against league opponents, but a positive COVID-19 test among Loyola’s tier 1 personnel cancelled the game. Lehigh earned the automatic qualifier for the NCAA Tournament where it was the No. 8 seed.

Spence had his best season as a senior in 2021, garnering honorable mention All-America recognition by the USILA, Inside Lacrosse Media and USA Lacrosse Magazine. He finished the season 14th in the nation in save percentage (56.0) and 15th in goals against average (9.83), reaching double-figure saves in nine of his 12 games.

Spence’s career save percentage is over 53.0, with a goals against average under 9.5. He’s anchored a defense that’s consistently been among the nation’s best. Last season, the Mountain Hawks stood 18th in scoring defense – allowing 10.18 goals per game.