Friday, April 21
Bethlehem, Pa.
7 PM
Lehigh University
vs
Bucknell
Lehigh wraps up regular season by hosting Bucknell in must-win Friday night showdown
4/19/2017 2:38:00 PM | Men's Lacrosse
Game Notes | Purchase Tickets | Watch Live (Patriot League Network) | Watch Live (Twitter) | Live StatsÂ
Â
BETHLEHEM, Pa. - The Lehigh men's lacrosse team wraps up the regular season on Friday when the Mountain Hawks host Bucknell in a must-win game for both sides. Opening faceoff on Senior Night is set for 7 p.m. at the Ulrich Sports Complex. The game can be seen live, online through the Patriot League Network and on Twitter. The winner of Friday's game will advance to the Patriot League Tournament while the loser will fail to quality. Lehigh is eying its seventh straight tournament appearance.
Â
If the Mountain Hawks win on Friday, they would be the No. 6 seed in the upcoming tournament and would travel to the third seed, Holy Cross, Boston University or Loyola, on Tuesday for the Patriot League Quarterfinals. Lehigh enters with a 6-6 record, 3-4 in Patriot League play and has alternated wins and losses for the past eight games. The Mountain Hawks are 3-1 at home in that span and 1-3 on the road. Lehigh has defeated two straight nationally-ranked teams at home, beating No. 16/18 Boston University 10-6 and No. 13/14 Princeton, 15-10. Because of those wins, the Mountain Hawks received votes in Monday's USILA National Coaches Poll, coming in third among "others receiving votes."
Â
Friday will be Senior Night as Lehigh's senior class will be recognized prior to opening faceoff. Tickets for Friday's game are just five dollars for the general public while Lehigh students, faculty and staff are admitted free with their Lehigh ID. There will be a mid-line challenge at halftime for a chance to win $250 and fans can enter by checking into the game on the Mountain Hawk Rewards App. Lehigh students can take the Campus Connector bus to the game, with buses set to leave at 6:30 p.m. from Packer Ave. and 6:34 from Pi Beta Phi. Buses will continually run back from the Goodman Campus at 8:33, 8:53, 9:13, 9:33, etc. For the complete campus connector bus schedule, please click here.
Â
Most recently, Lehigh suffered a 16-11 loss at Cornell on Saturday in an up-tempo game which featured 95 combined shots. The Mountain Hawks held a 50-45 edge in that category, but Cornell goalie Christian Knight made 17 saves to help his team to victory. Lehigh held an early 3-1 lead and eventually 6-4 in the second quarter, but the Big Red used a 4-0 run to take an 8-6 halftime advantage, and used a 7-0 second-half run to create separation.
Â
Freshman faceoff specialist Conor Gaffney returned from injury and won 19-of-23 faceoffs with 11 groundballs. His 19 wins tied a career high (originally set during the season opener vs. NJIT). As a team, the Mountain Hawks won 24-of-30 draws as senior Casey McAdam also won 3-of-4 and junior Matt Ernst was 1-for-1. Sophomore Eddie Bouahall helped lead the defense with three groundballs and three caused turnovers while also scoring his first goal of the season. Classmate Craig Chick had an assist, two groundballs and a caused turnover, reaching 72 career caused turnovers. In the process, he moved past Mike Noone and into sole possession of second place in school history in that category. Senior Donny Stires made a career-high 15 saves in goal.
Â
Sophomore Andrew Pettit led the offense with three goals and two assists, marking his 12th multi-goal game in his last 13 contests, dating back to last season. Junior Lucas Spence scored a career-high four goals on just five shots, while also setting a career high with two caused turnovers. Sophomore Tristan Rai had a goal and assist while senior Matt Raposo dished two assists.
Â
Lehigh has lost the last two meetings against Bucknell, but both came on the road. The Mountain Hawks have won two of their last three vs. the Bison at home. Lehigh is eying its first win over Bucknell since Mar. 8, 2014, a dominant 9-3 road victory.
Â
Bucknell is in the midst of an up-and-down season, standing 5-7 overall, most recently earning an 11-7 win at Lafayette. Will Sands leads the team in scoring with 60 points behind 19 goals and 41 assists. Connor O'Hara owns 33 points (30 goals, three assists) while Sean O'Brien has 30 (26 goals, four assists). Jarrett Witzal has won 55.3 percent of his faceoffs (126-of-228) with a team-leading 67 groundballs while Matt Gilray and Benny Borgognone have each tallied a team-leading 14 caused turnovers. Christian Klipstein has started all 12 games in goal, recording a 10.55 goals against average and .517 save percentage.
Â
Bucknell has won three straight games in the all-time series to take a 36-14 lead. Prior to the 2015 season which saw Bucknell win 9-8 (overtime) in the regular season and 13-8 in the Patriot League Quarterfinals, the Mountain Hawks had won four consecutive against the Bison. This came after Bucknell had won six straight. Lehigh's four-game streak began with a hard-fought 9-8 win during Lehigh's 2012 Patriot League Championship season and included an 11-7 road win to clinch the No. 1 overall seed in 2013. The Mountain Hawks defeated Bucknell 11-4 in the 2013 championship game then followed with a 9-3 road victory in 2014, marking Lehigh's last win against the Bison.
Â
If the Mountain Hawks win on Friday, they would advance to their seventh straight Patriot League Tournament. Lehigh would travel to Boston University, Holy Cross or Loyola next Tuesday (Apr. 25) for the quarterfinals.
Â
Like Lehigh men's lacrosse on Facebook, follow on Twitter and Instagram for continued updates on the Mountain Hawks.
Â
Â
BETHLEHEM, Pa. - The Lehigh men's lacrosse team wraps up the regular season on Friday when the Mountain Hawks host Bucknell in a must-win game for both sides. Opening faceoff on Senior Night is set for 7 p.m. at the Ulrich Sports Complex. The game can be seen live, online through the Patriot League Network and on Twitter. The winner of Friday's game will advance to the Patriot League Tournament while the loser will fail to quality. Lehigh is eying its seventh straight tournament appearance.
Â
If the Mountain Hawks win on Friday, they would be the No. 6 seed in the upcoming tournament and would travel to the third seed, Holy Cross, Boston University or Loyola, on Tuesday for the Patriot League Quarterfinals. Lehigh enters with a 6-6 record, 3-4 in Patriot League play and has alternated wins and losses for the past eight games. The Mountain Hawks are 3-1 at home in that span and 1-3 on the road. Lehigh has defeated two straight nationally-ranked teams at home, beating No. 16/18 Boston University 10-6 and No. 13/14 Princeton, 15-10. Because of those wins, the Mountain Hawks received votes in Monday's USILA National Coaches Poll, coming in third among "others receiving votes."
Â
Friday will be Senior Night as Lehigh's senior class will be recognized prior to opening faceoff. Tickets for Friday's game are just five dollars for the general public while Lehigh students, faculty and staff are admitted free with their Lehigh ID. There will be a mid-line challenge at halftime for a chance to win $250 and fans can enter by checking into the game on the Mountain Hawk Rewards App. Lehigh students can take the Campus Connector bus to the game, with buses set to leave at 6:30 p.m. from Packer Ave. and 6:34 from Pi Beta Phi. Buses will continually run back from the Goodman Campus at 8:33, 8:53, 9:13, 9:33, etc. For the complete campus connector bus schedule, please click here.
Â
Most recently, Lehigh suffered a 16-11 loss at Cornell on Saturday in an up-tempo game which featured 95 combined shots. The Mountain Hawks held a 50-45 edge in that category, but Cornell goalie Christian Knight made 17 saves to help his team to victory. Lehigh held an early 3-1 lead and eventually 6-4 in the second quarter, but the Big Red used a 4-0 run to take an 8-6 halftime advantage, and used a 7-0 second-half run to create separation.
Â
Freshman faceoff specialist Conor Gaffney returned from injury and won 19-of-23 faceoffs with 11 groundballs. His 19 wins tied a career high (originally set during the season opener vs. NJIT). As a team, the Mountain Hawks won 24-of-30 draws as senior Casey McAdam also won 3-of-4 and junior Matt Ernst was 1-for-1. Sophomore Eddie Bouahall helped lead the defense with three groundballs and three caused turnovers while also scoring his first goal of the season. Classmate Craig Chick had an assist, two groundballs and a caused turnover, reaching 72 career caused turnovers. In the process, he moved past Mike Noone and into sole possession of second place in school history in that category. Senior Donny Stires made a career-high 15 saves in goal.
Â
Sophomore Andrew Pettit led the offense with three goals and two assists, marking his 12th multi-goal game in his last 13 contests, dating back to last season. Junior Lucas Spence scored a career-high four goals on just five shots, while also setting a career high with two caused turnovers. Sophomore Tristan Rai had a goal and assist while senior Matt Raposo dished two assists.
Â
Lehigh has lost the last two meetings against Bucknell, but both came on the road. The Mountain Hawks have won two of their last three vs. the Bison at home. Lehigh is eying its first win over Bucknell since Mar. 8, 2014, a dominant 9-3 road victory.
Â
Bucknell is in the midst of an up-and-down season, standing 5-7 overall, most recently earning an 11-7 win at Lafayette. Will Sands leads the team in scoring with 60 points behind 19 goals and 41 assists. Connor O'Hara owns 33 points (30 goals, three assists) while Sean O'Brien has 30 (26 goals, four assists). Jarrett Witzal has won 55.3 percent of his faceoffs (126-of-228) with a team-leading 67 groundballs while Matt Gilray and Benny Borgognone have each tallied a team-leading 14 caused turnovers. Christian Klipstein has started all 12 games in goal, recording a 10.55 goals against average and .517 save percentage.
Â
Bucknell has won three straight games in the all-time series to take a 36-14 lead. Prior to the 2015 season which saw Bucknell win 9-8 (overtime) in the regular season and 13-8 in the Patriot League Quarterfinals, the Mountain Hawks had won four consecutive against the Bison. This came after Bucknell had won six straight. Lehigh's four-game streak began with a hard-fought 9-8 win during Lehigh's 2012 Patriot League Championship season and included an 11-7 road win to clinch the No. 1 overall seed in 2013. The Mountain Hawks defeated Bucknell 11-4 in the 2013 championship game then followed with a 9-3 road victory in 2014, marking Lehigh's last win against the Bison.
Â
If the Mountain Hawks win on Friday, they would advance to their seventh straight Patriot League Tournament. Lehigh would travel to Boston University, Holy Cross or Loyola next Tuesday (Apr. 25) for the quarterfinals.
Â
Like Lehigh men's lacrosse on Facebook, follow on Twitter and Instagram for continued updates on the Mountain Hawks.
Â
Players Mentioned
D/LSM
/ Men's Lacrosse
FO/M
/ Men's Lacrosse
M/FO
/ Men's Lacrosse
FO/M
/ Men's Lacrosse
A/M
/ Men's Lacrosse
A
/ Men's Lacrosse
A
/ Men's Lacrosse
A/M
/ Men's Lacrosse
G
/ Men's LacrosseLehigh Sports Central: Men's Lacrosse
Thursday, April 24
2025 Season Preview: Men's Lacrosse
Friday, January 31
Lehigh Sports Central: Men's Lacrosse
Wednesday, April 10
