Lehigh University Athletics
All eyes on Lehigh as men's lax hosts No. 12 Bucknell Friday night
4/13/2011 5:17:00 PM | Men's Lacrosse
BETHLEHEM, Pa. - Following a pair of tough losses to ranked foes, the Lehigh men's lacrosse team will try to clinch its first Patriot League Tournament berth since 2006 when it hosts red-hot and No. 12 nationally-ranked Bucknell on Friday night. Faceoff is set for 7:30 p.m. The showdown will take center stage, not only in the Patriot League, but also nationally as the only Division I men's lacrosse game of the day.
Should the Mountain Hawks (6-6, 2-2 PL) win, they would defeat Bucknell (10-2, 4-0 PL) for the first time since 2006 while clinching their first postseason berth since that same season. The Bison come in winners of four straight and tied for the nation's most wins (10). Even with a loss, Lehigh would still clinch a tournament bid should Navy and Lafayette lose on Saturday. The Midshipmen are hosting Army at 2 p.m. while the Leopards play Colgate at 7 p.m.
Friday begins a big weekend for Lehigh, who welcomes No. 9 North Carolina to Goodman Stadium on Sunday. In the end, the Mountain Hawks will have played four straight ranked foes. Lehigh is still looking for an elusive win over a ranked team, though as it stands 6-0 against unranked foes and 0-6 against teams ranked at some point this season. Those six losses have come by a combined 16 goals, however (2.67 per game), as the Mountain Hawks have hung within four of every ranked team they've played, including a pair of one-goal heartbreakers against Penn State and current No. 11 Villanova.
Down 9-5 in the fourth quarter against No. 20 Colgate, sophomore Dante Fantoni nearly single-handedly pulled the Mountain Hawks even, posting three points (two goals and an assist) in a short 2:24 span to pull Lehigh right back into the game. It wasn't enough, however, as the Raiders responded with the game's final two scores for the 11-8 final.
Also stellar was senior defenseman Richard Bradley, who repeated as Patriot League Defensive Player of the Week on Monday. He finished with four groundballs and three caused turnovers, while holding the league's second-leading scorer Peter Baum goal-less and to only one point total (an assist). Bradley has now recorded 14 groundballs and 12 caused turnovers over his last three contests. Also impressing has been the Mountain Hawks' man-up unit, which went 2-for-2 on Saturday to raise its percentage to 46.5 (20-of-43), good for sixth nationally.
Bucknell has been on fire, winning four in a row to reach 10 wins, tied for the most in the nation. Those four straight victories have come against some quality opponents: Albany (11-9), Penn State (8-6), Holy Cross (10-3) and Army (8-7). Last time out, the Bison went up to West Point and handed the Black Knights their first home loss of the season. Bucknell also has strong wins against No. 11 Villanova, Navy and Hartford on its resume. Its only losses have come to Penn and Robert Morris. The team is 7-0 at home, but only 3-2 on the road.
Leading the offense is Ryan Klipstein, who has 36 points via 22 goals and 14 assists. Mike Danylyshyn is right behind him with 28 (14 goals, 14 assists) while Todd Heritage and Charlie Streep have 22 (16 goals, six assists) and 20 (14 goals, six assists) points, respectively. Alex Lyons leads the defense in both groundballs (46) and caused turnovers (18) while a two-headed monster has impressed at the faceoff X, winning 53.1 percent of its draws as a team. Kyle Feeney has been stellar in goal, holding one of the nation's best goals against averages (6.98) along with a .554 save percentage.
The Bison have dominated the all-time series, 31-10, but Lehigh does own a 5-4 record at home. The teams have met 20 times since the beginning of Patriot League play, with Bucknell winning seven of them. The sides first played back in 1969, a Bison victory while the Mountain Hawks won for the first two in '71. Bucknell responded with a 14-game winning streak, but Lehigh has held its own since, including one stretch from 1993-99 when it won six-of-seven against the Bison, including two three-game winning streaks. The Mountain Hawks are looking for their first win against Bucknell since a 7-5 home triumph in 2006.
The Mountain Hawks continue their string of home games when they welcome No. 9 North Carolina for a special 12 p.m. faceoff on Sunday in Goodman Stadium. Tickets for that game are only $5 for the general public while seniors, groups and Lehigh students are only $3. Tickets may be purchased on Lehighsports.com or by calling 610-7LU-GAME. The UNC showdown will also air nationally on the CBS Sports Network with Dave Ryan and Matt Danowski calling the action.
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