Mountain Hawks drop hard-fought contest at No. 2/3 North Carolina

Saturday, February 18

Chapel Hill, N.C.

1 PM

Lehigh University

2-1

North Carolina

3-0

Team	1	2	3	4	Final F
Lehigh	3	4	0	1	8
North Carolina	5	6	3	1	15

Mountain Hawks drop hard-fought contest at No. 2/3 North Carolina

2/18/2017 5:32:00 PM | Men's Lacrosse

Box Score

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – The Lehigh men's lacrosse team hung within striking distance for most of the game, but defending national champion and No. 2/3 North Carolina outscored the Mountain Hawks (2-1) 3-0 in the third quarter to create separation as Lehigh dropped a 15-8 final on Saturday afternoon. Sophomore Andrew Pettit led the Lehigh offense with three goals and an assist for his second straight hat trick. The Mountain Hawks scored the first two goals of the game, but the Tar Heels (3-0) answered.

Freshman Conor Gaffney impressed at the faceoff X. After winning just 2-of-7 in the first quarter, he won nine of his last 15 against North Carolina All-American Stephen Kelly. Along with Pettit's four points, classmate Tristan Rai also had four behind a goal and three assists. Freshman Andrew Eichelberger was stellar, scoring a career-high two goals as well. Sophomore Craig Chick had three groundballs and three caused turnovers while classmate Eddie Bouhall tallied five groundballs and two caused turnovers.

"We had a great start," said Lehigh head coach Kevin Cassese. "We really carried the pace early in the game, had a huge play by freshman Andrew Eichelberger in the clear, a really physical play and scored one instantly. We then scored a second not long after. We had a great start, but they fought back as we knew they would.

"But we answered the bell. I give our guys a lot of credit. After they were pumping in goals all over the place, we cut it to two goals. I thought we fought hard. Overall, it was a good effort, but not good enough against a really quality team."

The Mountain Hawks jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead before the game was six minutes old, behind goals from Rai and Eichelberger.

North Carolina responded with the next five goals, opening a 5-2 advantage at 1:56 of the first quarter. The teams exchanged the next six goals, two from Pettit, as Lehigh pulled within 7-4 following a Parker Kent goal with 9:38 remaining in the second quarter.

The Tar Heels answered with a 4-0 run, but Lehigh scored the final two goals of the half, the second from Eichelberger and an Ian Strain goal as the first half expired to pull within 11-7 following 30 minutes of play.

The game became more defensive in the second half, with a total of just five goals. Lehigh was able to score only once, Pettit's fourth goal of the game, as UNC pulled away.

"I thought our youth showed a lot today," said Cassese. "We made some youthful mistakes at some critical points in the game and I thought they capitalized."

North Carolina finished with a 40-29 edge in shots while the Mountain Hawks held a 30-29 advantage in groundballs. Lehigh sophomore goalkeeper Chris Kiernan made seven saves, before being replaced by senior Donny Stires who made two without allowing a goal.

"One reason you play the defending national champions is for the learning experience," said Cassese. "Of course we would have liked to win the game. Our weaknesses were exposed, which we will get to see on film and correct. We will learn a lot from today's game."

The Mountain Hawks now look ahead to their Patriot League opener next Saturday (Feb. 25) at Holy Cross. Opening faceoff is now set for 12 p.m. on the Patriot League Network.

"We're exactly where I thought we would be," said Cassese. "We're certainly getting better, but not where we need to be. We need to continue to work and progress. I'm excited to get back to work this week and starting diving into Holy Cross. Now, we can set our sights on the Patriot League. That's where our season goals have started and finished this year. We're excited to get going with league play."

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