Saturday, September 13
Durham, N.H.
3:30 PM
Lehigh University
0-2
27
at
45
New Hampshire
1-1
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
F
Lehigh
0
0
14
13
27
UNH
15
14
13
3
45
Lehigh can’t overcome slow start in 45-27 loss at No. 7/9 New Hampshire
9/13/2014 7:24:00 PM | Football
DURHAM, N.H. - No. 7/9 New Hampshire raced to a 29-0 halftime lead which was too much for Lehigh to overcome as the Mountain Hawks fell 45-27 Saturday in front of 9,358 at Cowell Stadium. Wildcat quarterback Sean Goldrich threw for 422 yards and four touchdowns and added 64 yards on the ground to lead New Hampshire, which outgained Lehigh 646-314 on the day.
Sophomore Brandon Yosha rushed for 108 yards and a touchdown on 14 carries to lead the Lehigh offense, which did muster four second half touchdowns. Quarterback Nick Shafnisky completed 15-of-28 passes for 106 yards and a touchdown but was sacked four times. Freshman Troy Pelletier provided a bright spot, catching a pair of fourth quarter touchdowns from two different Mountain Hawk quarterbacks, while senior Josh Parris led Lehigh with five receptions for 37 yards.
Lehigh falls to 0-2 on the season while New Hampshire improves to 1-1.
"I'm disappointed with today's outcome," said Lehigh head coach Andy Coen. "We never gave ourselves a chance. UNH really jumped us from the get-go and were very physical. We did not tackle very well. They really controlled every aspect of the game through the half."
The game started with each team turning the ball over on its first possession. New Hampshire picked up a pair of first downs before Goldrich had a pass deflected and picked off by senior Stephen Wilmington, who returned it into Wildcat territory. Lehigh picked up one first down by way of penalty but after a first down sack backed the Mountain Hawks up, Shafnisky hit Parris short of the sticks on third down, but he was stripped and Cody Muller recovered for UNH at its own 29.
New Hampshire capitalized on the turnover to open the scoring. The Wildcats put together a 12-play, 71-yard drive, highlighted by a 37 yard pass to Kyon Taylor on third down and a six yard rush by Andy Vailas on a botched field goal snap. Jimmy Owens ran the ball in from two yards out and Vailas added a run on the conversion attempt to put the Wildcats up 8-0 with 6:23 left in the first.
The Wildcats added to their lead on their next possession picking up a pair of first downs before Goldrich hit tight end Harold Spears deep down the left sideline for a 53 yard touchdown. The extra point put UNH up 15-0 with 1:43 left in the opening quarter.
Midway through the second quarter the Wildcats extended their lead with an impressive 11-play yard drive. R.J. Harris scored on a 15 yard run off a direct snap and the two point conversion extended the UNH lead to 23-0 with 7:04 remaining in the half. UNH added six more points on a 31 yard pass from Goodrich to Jimmy Giansante and after a missed extra point and missed field goal late; the Wildcats led 29-0 at the break.
UNH outgained Lehigh 401-88 in the opening half and ran 49 plays to the Mountain Hawks' 30. Shafnisky completed 7-of-12 passes for 57 yards and rushed nine times for five yards. Sophomore Brandon Yosha gained 22 yards on six carries, while Parris caught three balls for 28 yards.
Goldrich was 16-of-24 for 214 yards, two touchdowns and an interception and added 66 yards on six rushes.
Lehigh came out of the locker room with a strong drive with Yosha helping Lehigh move the ball 59 yards in six plays, the final 32 of which came on a touchdown run on a draw play with the extra point cutting UNH's lead to 29-7 early in the third.
"I was pleased to see our kids show some life coming out in the second half," Coen said. "We were really in the flow of the game the entire second half but it was a day late and a dollar short."
New Hampshire answered on its very next drive, re-establishing a 29 point lead following a 52 yard swing pass from Goldrich to Harris that went for a touchdown. The duo connected for a second time, covering 35 yards but a bad snap on the extra point left UNH up 42-7.
"We were victimized by too many big plays," Coen said. "We had opportunities to tackle guys in space and we didn't do it. I credit the UNH staff and their kids. They did a great job. They had a great plan against us."
After a drive stalled in UNH territory punter Austin Devine pinned the Wildcats at their eight yard line. On the next play, junior D.J. Bourgeois stripped Owens and recovered at the New Hampshire seven to give Lehigh the ball. The Mountain Hawks capitalized as Shafnisky scored on a quarterback draw on the next play to cut the deficit to 42-14.
Lehigh added another score after the teams exchanged interceptions. Sophomore Brandon Leaks picked off Goldrich and returned the ball to the UNH 34. On the tenth play of the drive, Shafnisky hit freshman Troy Pelletier for a six yard touchdown on 4th-and-5 to bring the Mountain Hawks within 42-21.
New Hampshire responded with a field goal, but senior Matt McHale followed by driving the Mountain Hawks deep into Wildcats' territory, finding Pelletier for an 18-yard touchdown as Pelletier outleaped a defender and came down with the acrobatic catch. The extra point was no good, but Lehigh was within 45-27 with just under two minutes on the clock, which stood as the final.
"The kids kept competing," Coen said. "We put some young players in there and those kids did a really nice job; Chris Leigh carrying the ball and Troy Pelletier doing a nice job with a couple touchdown catches and doing some things on special teams. I still think we have the makings of a good football team, even though we're 0-2. We've played two very talented football teams. As a team we need to figure this deal out."
UNH posted 29 first downs compared to Lehigh's 21, while the Mountain Hawks ended the game with a 31:30-28:30 edge in time of possession.
Harris finished with six catches for 109 yards and two touchdowns for New Hampshire, while Spears had 138 yards on seven receptions.
Defensively, Lehigh was led by junior Cody Kondas and sophomore Pierce Ripanti, who both finished with seven tackles. UNH's Hayden Knudson led all players with 11 stops.
The Mountain Hawks will return to action next Saturday when they travel to New Haven, Conn. to face the Yale Bulldogs in their season opener. Kickoff is set for just after 1 p.m. from the Yale Bowl with audio coverage on ESPN Radio 1230 and 1320 as well as ESPNLV.com.
EXTRA POINTS… Lehigh is 0-2 for the first time since 2009, when the Mountain Hawks started 0-5… the 29 first half points allowed were the most allowed in a first half since 2000 when Lehigh gave up 31 to Delaware in a second round playoff game… Lehigh had won its last five road openers… the Mountain Hawks failed to record a sack for the second straight game… freshman Chris Leigh ran the ball effectively late with five carries for 35 yards… New Hampshire is now 35-4 at Cowell Stadium since the start of the 2007 season.
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Team Stats
LEHIGH
UNH
Total Yards
314
646
Pass Yards
159
422
Rushing Yards
155
224
Penalty Yards
15
42
1st Downs
21
29
3rd Downs
3
8
4th Downs
2
1
TOP
32:10
27:50
1st Quarter
LEHIGH 0, UNH 8
UNH - Owens, Jimmy 2 yd run (Vailas, Andy rush), 12 plays, 71 yards, TOP 4:41
LEHIGH 0, UNH 15
UNH - Spears, Harold 53 yd pass from Goldrich, Sean (Breda, C. kick) 4 plays, 74 yards, TOP 1:22
2nd Quarter
LEHIGH 0, UNH 23
UNH - Harris, R.J. 15 yd run (Goodrich, Donal pass), 11 plays, 84 yards, TOP 3:34
LEHIGH 0, UNH 29
UNH - Giansante, J. 31 yd pass from Goldrich, Sean (Breda, C. kickfailed) 9 plays, 90 yards, TOP 2:50
3rd Quarter
LEHIGH 7, UNH 29
LEHIGH - Yosha, Brandon 32 yd run (Pandy, Ryan kick), 6 plays, 59 yards, TOP 1:49
LEHIGH 7, UNH 36
UNH - Harris, R.J. 52 yd pass from Goldrich, Sean (Breda, C. kick) 5 plays, 75 yards, TOP 1:24
LEHIGH 7, UNH 42
UNH - Harris, R.J. 35 yd pass from Goldrich, Sean (TEAM rushfailed) 5 plays, 84 yards, TOP 1:34
LEHIGH 14, UNH 42
LEHIGH - Shafnisky, Nick 7 yd run (Pandy, Ryan kick), 1 plays, 7 yards, TOP 0:04
4th Quarter
LEHIGH 21, UNH 42
LEHIGH - Pelletier, Troy 6 yd pass from Shafnisky, Nick (Pandy, Ryan kick) 10 plays, 34 yards, TOP 4:00
LEHIGH 21, UNH 45
UNH - Breda, C. 23 yd field goal 8 plays, 49 yards, TOP 3:11
LEHIGH 27, UNH 45
LEHIGH - Pelletier, Troy 18 yd pass from McHale, Matt (Shafnisky, Nick passfailed) 9 plays, 81 yards, TOP 3:02
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