BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Lehigh wraps up its four-game homestand on Tuesday evening when the Mountain Hawks play host to the No. 14 Delaware Fightin’ Blue Hens at the Ulrich Sports Complex. The Mountain Hawks (5-5) will attempt to win back-to-back games for the first time all season after downing St. John’s this past weekend 7-3 at home behind a combined five-goal effort from Richard Bradley, Jonathan Stumpf and Brian Bienemann. Delaware meanwhile defeated Villanova on March 22 8-4 at home to raise the Blue Hens record to 6-2 overall and 1-0 in the Colonial Athletic Association. The Blue Hens played in the 2007 Final Four; it was the school’s first-ever trip in men’s lacrosse.
Lehigh has won all three of its non-league home games this season and four in a row overall (St. Joseph’s, Wagner, Villanova, St. John’s) after its most recent win against the Red Storm. Max Dahlem leads the Mountain Hawks on offense with 13 goals and 17 points, while Ricky Cornetta is not far behind with 11 goals and 16 points.
Seniors Dan Honeywell and Tom Allen have been solid on defense for the Mountain Hawks, having combined for 57 ground balls and 21 caused turnovers, while classmate Stuart Baxter leads the team with 40 ground balls and a 51.2 win percentage in the X.
Eric Spirko has started all ten games in goal this season, posting a save percentage of .513 along the way. The New York native has sent back 79 shots in 544 minutes of action and has faced 260 shots.
Delaware’s offense starts with sophomore Curtis Dickson who is among the national leaders in goals scored with 27. Dickson has scored a goal in 16 consecutive games for the Blue Hens and scored a point in 17 straight. Martin Cahill, who has 16 goals on the season, has found the back of the net in every game and ranks fourth on the team with 19 points.
The Blue Hens starting goal keeper is Tom Scherr, who has stopped 98 shots in 472 minutes of action, good for a 9.77 goals against average. Scherr has allowed 77 goals and posted a save percentage of .560. Lehigh must contend with the Blue Hens potent man-up offense, which has scored on 52.4 percent of its chances this season (11-of-21), good for sixth in America.
Delaware began the season 5-0, including wins over nationally ranked UMBC, Rutgers and a triple OT thriller against Albany. The Blue Hens had dropped two straight however, before bouncing back with the win over ‘Nova this past weekend.
Tuesday’s meeting will be the 45th all-time between Lehigh and Delaware with UD leading 29-15. Lehigh has not won in the series since posting a 13-9 victory in 1980. The first meeting all-time between the schools in men’s lacrosse was 1949, a game the Brown and White won 9-4. Tuesday’s game is also the fifth of the season versus a nationally ranked foe for the Mountain Hawks, with two more on the horizon.
Lehigh and Delaware will get things underway at 7:00 from the Ulrich Sports Complex on Tuesday. Live audio and video of the match will be available on Lehighsports.com with Robbie Aaron ’09 and former Lehigh head coach Chris Wakely on the call.
On Monday, Spirko garnered an honorable mention accolade from the Patriot League following his performance last week in which he held nationally ranked Army to four goals and St. John’s to only three scores. Spirko posted double-digit saves in both games and 22 total for the week. Spirko’s save percentage was .759 for the week.
Photography 2008 (c), Specialty Photographic
