Lehigh University
No. 20 Villanova
Mountain Hawks fall to Wildcats on road
3/14/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Lacrosse
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VILLANOVA, Pa. – Villanova scored six first quarter goals and fought off a second quarter rally by Lehigh as the No. 20 Wildcats upended the Mountain Hawks 16-6 on Saturday afternoon. Senior Ricky Cornetta scored a pair of goals for the Mountain Hawks who pulled to within 7-4 midway through the second, but Villanova scored the game’s next nine goals and improves to 5-1 with the win. In addition to Cornetta’s two scores, four other Mountain Hawks netted goals for Lehigh.
Lehigh was outshot 43-22 on Saturday afternoon, but the Mountain Hawks scooped up more ground balls and won more face offs than the Wildcats. Will Scudder won 16-of-25 at the X for the Brown and White and added a game-high ten ground balls, while three other Mountain Hawks scooped up two GBs. Freshman Adam Johnston handed out two assists for Lehigh, while Matt Diehl and John Henry McNierney had one each. Conor Murphy got the start in goal and stopped nine shots in 50 minutes before giving way to Morgan Haller who sent back a pair of Villanova shots.
Mike Brennan and Brian Karalunas scooped up five ground balls apiece for the Wildcats and T.J. O’Donnell won seven-of-13 face offs. Paul Webber led the home team with three assists to go along with his three goals, while C.J. Small, Tim Langan, Mark Scioscia and Dan Liva all scored two goals. Andrew DiLoreto stopped eight shots in goal for the Wildcats and Karalunas caused four turnovers.
Scioscia scored the game’s first goal nearly three minutes in, and Liva followed with a score to give the Wildcats a 2-0 lead, but Cameron Lao-Gosney got Lehigh on the board 45 seconds later to cut the lead in half. From there however Villanova’s offense erupted for five straight goals spanning the remainder of the opening quarter and into the second. Scioscia’s goal at the 10:28 mark of the second put Lehigh in a 7-1 hole, but the Mountain Hawks fought back as Chris Lubin scored once and Cornetta netted back-to-back goals to pull Lehigh within three at 7-4, which is how the score would remain when the teams hit halftime.
Villanova controlled the third quarter, outscoring Lehigh 4-0 to take an 11-4 lead into the final 15 minutes. The Wildcats then scored five more times to open the fourth before Blaise Fullen and Kevin Donovan closed out the game with a pair of scores for the Mountain Hawks.
Lehigh returns to action on Tuesday evening when the Mountain Hawks travel to West Point to take on the Black Knights of Army. The opening face-off is set for 7:00.
