Saturday, February 17
Chapel Hill, N.C.
12 p.m.
Lehigh University
at
North Carolina
Lehigh returns south to face No. 13/14 North Carolina on Saturday
2/15/2018 2:17:00 PM | Men's Lacrosse
Game Notes | Watch Live (ESPN3) | Live Stats
BETHLEHEM, Pa. - The Lehigh men's lacrosse team looks to continue its early-season success when it travels to No. 13/14 North Carolina to face the Tar Heels for a second straight season. Opening faceoff is set for 12 p.m. on ACC Network Extra (ESPN3). The Mountain Hawks are coming off a pair of 13-8 victories to begin the year, vs. NJIT and at Mercer. With the wins, Lehigh improved to 2-0 for the fourth time in the last six years. This Saturday, it will vie for its first 3-0 start since 2014.
Lehigh went down 6-3 in the first quarter at Mercer, but bounced back to outscore the Bears 10-2 the rest of the way. Lehigh's defense bore down and allowed just two goals over the game's final 46:15, allowing only 18 shots over the final three quarters after giving up 11 in the first. Junior Andrew Pettit led the offense for a second straight week, scoring three goals for his second straight hat trick to begin the year. He has now tallied multiple goals in 15 of his last 17 games dating back to his freshman campaign.
Nine different Mountain Hawks scored at least one goal, including two goals each from senior John Mehok and sophomore Austin Pierce. With an assist, Mehok also tied a career-high three points, set the week prior vs. NJIT. Pierce's two goals were both on the extra man and marked a career high. Sophomore Ryan Klose scored his first goal of the season on the man advantage while Pettit scored a man-up goal as well. Lehigh finished the afternoon 4-of-5 on the man advantage to up its season percentage to 0.857 (6-of-7), currently good for No. 6 nationally.
Juniors Tristan Rai and Lucas Spence each had three points via a goal and two assists while junior transfer Alexander Tumminello posted his first-career points as well, finishing with a goal and assist. With Lehigh trailing 6-3, the Mountain Hawks went on a 6-0 run, which included goals from six different players. Lehigh scored two goals in the final 34 seconds of the first quarter to pull within 6-5, then Pettit, Pierce, sophomore Parker Kent and Mehok gave the Mountain Hawks a 9-6 advantage. A defensive second half saw just five combined goals, four by Lehigh.
Junior Craig Chick was stellar, causing four turnovers while collecting two groundballs. Chick is up to six caused turnovers this season and 83 in his career, now within just 14 of Tripp Telesco's school record. Freshman Teddy Leggett impressed with five groundballs and two caused turnovers. Freshman James Spence made 10 saves, including stopping a perfect 6-of-6 shots in the third quarter, while sophomore Conor Gaffney won 14-of-23 faceoffs with four groundballs. He has won 66.7 percent of his draws over the first two weeks (32-of-48).
North Carolina enters Saturday's matchup with a 2-0 record and ranked 13th in the national coaches poll and 14th in the media poll. The Tar Heels are coming off a 15-14 overtime win over Furman Saturday, one game after picking up a 17-10 victory over Lafayette. Through two games, Chris Cloutier owns a team-leading 10 points (seven goals, three assists) while Tanner Cook leads the way with eight goals. Timmy Kelly owns six points (four goals, two assists) while William Kelly (four goals, one assist) and Justin Anderson (two goals, three assists) each have five, which includes the game-winning goal by Anderson against Furman. As a team, UNC has won 52.4 percent of its faceoffs, led by Charles Kelly winning 15-of-25 (60 percent). Graham Riley has won 18-of-38 with a team-leading 11 groundballs. In goal, Luke Millican owns an 11.36 goals against average and 45.9 save percentage.
North Carolina leads Lehigh in the all-time series, 8-3-1 following last year's 15-8 win over the Mountain Hawks. Prior to last season, the teams met in the 2013 NCAA Tournament, a 16-7 Tar Heel victory. Prior to that, Lehigh picked up a big 9-8 win at No. 4 UNC, helping propel the Mountain Hawks to their breakout 14-3 season which ended with their first Patriot League Tournament Championship and first-ever appearance in the NCAA Tournament. Lehigh won the first two meetings in 1950 and 1951 by 6-5 and 6-3 finals, respectively. The squads tied in 1952. The first meeting in 43 years saw North Carolina win 12-11 (in three overtimes) in 1995. The Tar Heels won five more in a row after that, in 1996, 2000, 2009, 2010 and 2011.
Following Saturday's game, the Mountain Hawks return home next Saturday (Feb. 24) to host Holy Cross in the Patriot League opener for both sides. Opening faceoff is set for 1 p.m.
Like Lehigh men's lacrosse on Facebook, follow on Twitter and Instagram for continued updates on the Mountain Hawks.
BETHLEHEM, Pa. - The Lehigh men's lacrosse team looks to continue its early-season success when it travels to No. 13/14 North Carolina to face the Tar Heels for a second straight season. Opening faceoff is set for 12 p.m. on ACC Network Extra (ESPN3). The Mountain Hawks are coming off a pair of 13-8 victories to begin the year, vs. NJIT and at Mercer. With the wins, Lehigh improved to 2-0 for the fourth time in the last six years. This Saturday, it will vie for its first 3-0 start since 2014.
Lehigh went down 6-3 in the first quarter at Mercer, but bounced back to outscore the Bears 10-2 the rest of the way. Lehigh's defense bore down and allowed just two goals over the game's final 46:15, allowing only 18 shots over the final three quarters after giving up 11 in the first. Junior Andrew Pettit led the offense for a second straight week, scoring three goals for his second straight hat trick to begin the year. He has now tallied multiple goals in 15 of his last 17 games dating back to his freshman campaign.
Nine different Mountain Hawks scored at least one goal, including two goals each from senior John Mehok and sophomore Austin Pierce. With an assist, Mehok also tied a career-high three points, set the week prior vs. NJIT. Pierce's two goals were both on the extra man and marked a career high. Sophomore Ryan Klose scored his first goal of the season on the man advantage while Pettit scored a man-up goal as well. Lehigh finished the afternoon 4-of-5 on the man advantage to up its season percentage to 0.857 (6-of-7), currently good for No. 6 nationally.
Juniors Tristan Rai and Lucas Spence each had three points via a goal and two assists while junior transfer Alexander Tumminello posted his first-career points as well, finishing with a goal and assist. With Lehigh trailing 6-3, the Mountain Hawks went on a 6-0 run, which included goals from six different players. Lehigh scored two goals in the final 34 seconds of the first quarter to pull within 6-5, then Pettit, Pierce, sophomore Parker Kent and Mehok gave the Mountain Hawks a 9-6 advantage. A defensive second half saw just five combined goals, four by Lehigh.
Junior Craig Chick was stellar, causing four turnovers while collecting two groundballs. Chick is up to six caused turnovers this season and 83 in his career, now within just 14 of Tripp Telesco's school record. Freshman Teddy Leggett impressed with five groundballs and two caused turnovers. Freshman James Spence made 10 saves, including stopping a perfect 6-of-6 shots in the third quarter, while sophomore Conor Gaffney won 14-of-23 faceoffs with four groundballs. He has won 66.7 percent of his draws over the first two weeks (32-of-48).
North Carolina enters Saturday's matchup with a 2-0 record and ranked 13th in the national coaches poll and 14th in the media poll. The Tar Heels are coming off a 15-14 overtime win over Furman Saturday, one game after picking up a 17-10 victory over Lafayette. Through two games, Chris Cloutier owns a team-leading 10 points (seven goals, three assists) while Tanner Cook leads the way with eight goals. Timmy Kelly owns six points (four goals, two assists) while William Kelly (four goals, one assist) and Justin Anderson (two goals, three assists) each have five, which includes the game-winning goal by Anderson against Furman. As a team, UNC has won 52.4 percent of its faceoffs, led by Charles Kelly winning 15-of-25 (60 percent). Graham Riley has won 18-of-38 with a team-leading 11 groundballs. In goal, Luke Millican owns an 11.36 goals against average and 45.9 save percentage.
North Carolina leads Lehigh in the all-time series, 8-3-1 following last year's 15-8 win over the Mountain Hawks. Prior to last season, the teams met in the 2013 NCAA Tournament, a 16-7 Tar Heel victory. Prior to that, Lehigh picked up a big 9-8 win at No. 4 UNC, helping propel the Mountain Hawks to their breakout 14-3 season which ended with their first Patriot League Tournament Championship and first-ever appearance in the NCAA Tournament. Lehigh won the first two meetings in 1950 and 1951 by 6-5 and 6-3 finals, respectively. The squads tied in 1952. The first meeting in 43 years saw North Carolina win 12-11 (in three overtimes) in 1995. The Tar Heels won five more in a row after that, in 1996, 2000, 2009, 2010 and 2011.
Following Saturday's game, the Mountain Hawks return home next Saturday (Feb. 24) to host Holy Cross in the Patriot League opener for both sides. Opening faceoff is set for 1 p.m.
Like Lehigh men's lacrosse on Facebook, follow on Twitter and Instagram for continued updates on the Mountain Hawks.
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