Lehigh returns home Saturday to host No. 11/13 Army West Point; gametime now 2 p.m.

Saturday, March 11

Bethlehem, Pa.

2 PM

Lehigh University

Army West Point

Lehigh returns home Saturday to host No. 11/13 Army West Point; gametime now 2 p.m.

3/10/2017 2:39:00 PM | Men's Lacrosse

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BETHLEHEM, Pa. - Coming off an impressive showing at Colgate, the Lehigh men's lacrosse team returns home for the first time in five weeks when it hosts No. 11/13 Army West Point on Saturday. Due to snow that fell on Friday and cold temperatures in the forecast Saturday, opening faceoff has been moved to 2 p.m. at the Ulrich Sports Complex. The game will air live online through the Patriot League Network. Last time out, the Mountain Hawks earned an 11-5 win against the Raiders while last time they were home, they defeated NJIT, 15-5 on Feb. 4.

Saturday is Youth Lacrosse Day as youngsters get $3 admission by wearing their youth lacrosse jerseys. All other tickets for the general public are $5. Lehigh students, faculty and staff get in free with their Lehigh IDs.

Last Sunday, Lehigh jumped out to a 2-0 lead after a quarter, Colgate pulled even, but the Mountain Hawks ended the first half on a 5-0 run to take a 7-2 halftime advantage. Senior Matt Raposo had a hand in four of the team's five goals. He finished the game with two goals and two assists for a team-high four points, eclipsing 50 career points in the process (currently 53). The Raiders pulled within 7-3, but that's as close as they would come as Lehigh wrapped up the 11-5 win. The five goals allowed were Lehigh's fewest allowed in a win against Colgate since 1969.

Sophomores Andrew Pettit and Lucas Spence each had hat tricks; it marked Spence's first-career multi-goal game. Senior Cody Triolo recorded career highs in assists (2) and points (3). Sophomore Tristan Rai added a goal and assist.

The big story was Lehigh's defense led by junior Danny Norris, who recorded a career-high five groundballs and career-high three caused turnovers. Sophomore Craig Chick also had four groundballs and two caused turnovers in his first start of the season at close defense. Freshman Conor Gaffney continued the stellar start to his career, winning 16-of-20 faceoffs with 12 groundballs. He's up to 54 groundballs on the season (tops in the nation) and has won 67.6 percent of his draws (75-of-111). Gaffney was then named both Patriot League Faceoff Specialist and Rookie of the Week on Monday, the second time this season he's won both awards.

The Mountain Hawks finished their long four-game road swing with a 2-2 record, defeating Jacksonville (13-12) and Colgate (11-5). The win was Lehigh's sixth in its last seven tries against Colgate, improving the Mountain Hawks' Patriot League record to 1-1 on the season. Lehigh will now alternate home and road games for the rest of the season. Its next two games are both against nationally-ranked opponents, Army West Point and Stony Brook (on Tuesday).

Lehigh is set to face its first nationally-ranked opponent at home since dropping a slim 11-10 final to No. 13/15 Loyola last Apr. 9, facing a Loyola team that would go onto the Final Four.

Army West Point is off to a strong start this season, standing 4-1 overall with wins over UMass, VMI, Syracuse and Lafayette while falling to Rutgers. The win over No. 6 Syracuse came in thrilling fashion as David Symmes scored with 0.5 seconds remaining to give the Black Knights a thrilling 14-13 win. Cole Johnson leads the team with 16 points (11 goals, five assists) while Nate Jones has 14 (team-high 13 goals, one assist) and Symmes owns 12 (nine goals, three assists). Dan Grabher has been stellar at the faceoff X, winning 63.5 percent (66-of-104) with a team-leading 44 groundballs. Johnny Surdick leads the team with 10 caused turnovers. A.J. Barretto has started all five games in goal, tallying a 7.90 goals against average and 50.7 save percentage.

Lehigh and Army West Point have gone back and forth over the last few years. The Mountain Hawks enjoyed a strong stretch from 2012-14 when they won three in a row and four-of-five, but the Black Knights have responded with three straight victories to take a 24-7 lead in the all-time series. The two teams have squared off in three of the last five Patriot League Tournaments, with Lehigh winning in the semifinals in 2012 and 2014 and Army winning in the quarterfinals last season. Six of Lehigh's seven all-time wins against the Black Knights have come in the last 14 meetings. Army won the first-ever meeting in 1922 by a 4-1 final before the sides reconvened in 1990, a 15-11 Army victory. Lehigh's first win was in 1999, 13-9.

Following Saturday's game, the Mountain Hawks will head to No. 14 Stony Brook on Tuesday night before returning home next Saturday (Mar. 18) to host archrival Lafayette at 1 p.m.

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