« Men’s Soccer 2018

Mark Forrest

School
Lehigh University
Position
Forward
Major
Management

Classroom

Mark Forrest has enjoyed success at a prestigious institution in Lehigh’s College of Business and Economics. Lehigh is currently tied for 46th nationally in the U.S. News and World Report top national universities. Forrest has experience in his area of interest, interning at EnerSys in Reading, Pa., in the human resources department. During his internship, he helped with recruiting and aided in writing and reviewing company policy. Previously, Forrest also took part in a one-day shadowing experience with Merrill Lynch Wealth Management, Lasting Image and EnerSys.

Character

Forrest is a captain for the 2018 Mountain Hawks and is looked up to, not only due to his on-field play, but also by the way he carries himself. Forrest has been heavily involved in the Lehigh Athletics Leadership Academy, as well. The academy itself features several programs, including P.R.I.D.E., which stands for Personal Responsibility in Determining Excellence. Students attend weekly workshops, learning how to consistently navigate college athletically, academically and socially. In Emerging Leaders, Forrest and other students are trained to lead by example, develop relationships with teammates and gain the credibility to lead vocally in order to maximize individual and team performance. Leadership Legacies is an extended program in the application of emotionally intelligent leadership and the navigation of team leadership challenges in partnership with their coaches.

Prior to Lehigh, Forrest was varsity soccer captain at The Hill School in 2014, elected by his peers to lead his team to back-to-back PA State Championships. He was a Residence Hall Prefect that year as well, responsible for 20 senior and underclass students living in the hall.

Community

Forrest has played a key role in multiple Lehigh Athletics community programs during his time on campus. Forrest and the Mountain Hawks have traveled to local Donegan Elementary School to participate in the Reading Rocks program through which a different Lehigh Athletics team each week spent approximately one hour with the students helping them read before playing games and participating in other activities with the kids. In addition, Lehigh men’s soccer, also takes part in Adopt-A-Family, thought which the Mountain Hawks provide a holiday for a local underprivileged family. The process includes shopping for gifts, wrapping and delivering them to the families in early December. Including Lehigh fraternities, sororities and other departments, the event itself has raised up to $30,000.

Competition

Forrest has enjoyed a historic career for the Mountain Hawks. He began as a freshman by posting 26 points (11 goals, four assists) to earn third-team All-Patriot League and All-Region recognition and helping lead Lehigh to the 2015 Patriot League Championship. He won the J. Daniel Nolan Award following the season, presented to Lehigh Athletics’ top first-year male athlete. Forrest went on to post 18 points (seven goals, four assists) in 2016, leading the league in points per game (1.29).

Forrest’s biggest season to-date came last year as a junior when he tied for the second-most points (38) and third-most goals (15) in the country. He was named Patriot League and ECAC Offensive Player of the Year and a third-team All-American by the United Soccer Coaches. Forrest was named Patriot League Offensive Player of the Week three times last year and has already been named Offensive Player of the Week once in 2018 (as of nomination time).

Named to the watch list for the MAC Hermann Trophy, Forrest (as of nomination time) has tallied a point in each of Lehigh’s first three games of 2018, scoring penalty-kick goals at UConn and George Washington while assisting on the Mountain Hawks’ goal vs. Drexel. Forrest’s goal vs. GW was the difference. This past summer, Forrest played for Reading United, which is affiliated with the Philadelphia Union of the MLS. He also had workouts with the MLS teams in Minnesota and New York as he explored the potential of playing soccer professionally.