Saturday, March 24
Bethlehem, Pa.
3 p.m.
Lehigh University
vs
Navy
No. 12/14 Lehigh returns to Patriot League play Saturday, hosting Navy at 3 p.m.
3/23/2018 2:58:00 PM | Men's Lacrosse
Game Notes | Watch Live (PLN) | Live Stats | Purchase Tickets | LISTEN: Pettit on latest Inside Lacrosse Podcast (27:40 mark)
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BETHLEHEM, Pa. - Winners of two straight and five of its last six games, the No. 12/14 Lehigh men's lacrosse team returns home to host Navy on Saturday. Opening faceoff is set for 3 p.m. The game will be televised locally on Service Electric 2 Sports and can be seen online through the Patriot League Network. Lehigh stands 4-0 in Patriot League play while Navy is 3-1. Saturday's contest is the second of a Lehigh Lacrosse doubleheader as the Lehigh women's team also hosts Loyola at 12 p.m.
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The Mountain Hawks are coming off their second road win over a nationally-ranked opponent in the span of 11 days. Lehigh won at No. 12 Army West Point on Mar. 10, 9-7, then 11 days later, picked up a 13-8 win at No. 18/19 Hofstra. Both games played out similarly. Against the Black Knights, Lehigh trailed 2-0, but went on to post two separate 4-0 runs, including a four-goal fourth-quarter run to turn a one-goal deficit into a three-goal lead. Meanwhile, at Hofstra Tuesday, Lehigh trailed 3-0, but went on to post two separate 5-0 runs, including five straight goals to end the game. Hofstra scored its third straight goal to tie the score at eight with 1:17 left in the third quarter, but sophomore Andrew Eichelberger answered with nine seconds remaining in the stanza and Lehigh followed by outscoring the Pride 4-0 in the fourth, on the way to the program's first-ever win over Hofstra. The Mountain Hawks also ended the Pride's four-game winning streak, scoring double-figure goals against Hofstra for the first time this season; the most goals Hofstra had previously allowed was nine against Ohio State. The Pride had allowed just 22 total goals over their four-game winning streak.
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Tuesday featured a strong all-around effort. Junior Andrew Pettit helped lead a Lehigh offense which scored 13 goals against the nation's No. 1 defense. Pettit finished with three goals and four assists, having a hand in more goals (seven) than the Pride were allowing all season (6.33 entering Tuesday). Pettit had a hand in seven of Lehigh's first eight goals, helping the Mountain Hawks stage an 8-2 run to turn a 3-0 deficit into an 8-5 lead. In total, Lehigh's starting attackmen combined for 17 points as junior Tristan Rai added three goals and two assists while classmate Lucas Spence had two goals and a career-high tying three assists. Senior Nolan Apers scored two goals, which came consecutively in the fourth quarter to give Lehigh a 12-8 lead. Sophomore Austin Pierce scored a man-up goal earlier in the quarter while a Spence goal rounded out the scoring in the fourth. Eichelberger tied a career-high two goals for a second straight game. Lehigh assisted on 10 of its 13 goals Tuesday and has assisted on 23-of-32 goals over its past two games.
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Lehigh's defense continued its strong play; after allowing three goals in the game's first 10:43, the Mountain Hawks allowed just five over the final 49:17 to lower its already strong goals against average to 8.11, still No. 6 nationally. Junior Craig Chick led the way with four caused turnovers to move him from 96 to 100 in his career, eclipsing Tripp Telesco's school record of 97. Chick is currently No. 16 in NCAA history in career caused turnovers, just six from tying the Patriot League career mark of 106 held by Colgate's Bobby Lawrence. Freshman Teddy Leggett excelled as well, recording five groundballs and two caused turnovers. Sophomore Conor Gaffney continued his strong play in the faceoff circle, winning 15-of-24 against Hofstra's Kyle Gallagher, who entered the day having won 61.8 percent on the year. Gaffney reached 250 career faceoff wins and 150 groundballs in the victory.
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Navy has had an up-and-down season, bouncing back from an 0-2 start to win four of its last six games. In Patriot League play, the Midshipmen are 3-1, winning at Boston University (10-8), Bucknell (13-8) and home vs. Lafayette (15-5), while falling to Loyola (15-9). Christian Daniel leads the Midshipmen in points with 21 while Jack Ray owns a team-leading 16 goals and Ryan Wade leads the team with 13 assists. Joe Varello has replaced Brady Dove as Navy's primary faceoff specialist and has won 63.2 percent of his draws (91-of-144) with 43 groundballs. Michael Strack leads the defense with 23 groundballs and a team-leading 13 caused turnovers. Ryan Kern has started all eight games in goal, owning a 9.08 goals against average and 46.3 save percentage.
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Navy holds a 32-6 lead in the all-time series following last season's 14-9 victory in Annapolis. The game marked Lehigh's third straight loss in the series after the Mountain Hawks had won five in a row between 2011 and 2014. Five of Lehigh's six all-time wins vs. Navy came in that four-year span. The only other victory came in 1913 by a 4-3 final. In 2011, Lehigh defeated Navy 14-10 in Bethlehem to beat the Mids for the first time in 98 years and snap a 26-game losing streak in the series. The first-ever meeting was in 1910, a 4-2 Navy victory.
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Following Saturday's game, the Mountain Hawks hit the road next Saturday (Mar. 31) to face Boston University at 3:30 p.m.
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Like Lehigh men's lacrosse on Facebook, follow on Twitter and Instagram for continued updates on the Mountain Hawks.
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BETHLEHEM, Pa. - Winners of two straight and five of its last six games, the No. 12/14 Lehigh men's lacrosse team returns home to host Navy on Saturday. Opening faceoff is set for 3 p.m. The game will be televised locally on Service Electric 2 Sports and can be seen online through the Patriot League Network. Lehigh stands 4-0 in Patriot League play while Navy is 3-1. Saturday's contest is the second of a Lehigh Lacrosse doubleheader as the Lehigh women's team also hosts Loyola at 12 p.m.
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The Mountain Hawks are coming off their second road win over a nationally-ranked opponent in the span of 11 days. Lehigh won at No. 12 Army West Point on Mar. 10, 9-7, then 11 days later, picked up a 13-8 win at No. 18/19 Hofstra. Both games played out similarly. Against the Black Knights, Lehigh trailed 2-0, but went on to post two separate 4-0 runs, including a four-goal fourth-quarter run to turn a one-goal deficit into a three-goal lead. Meanwhile, at Hofstra Tuesday, Lehigh trailed 3-0, but went on to post two separate 5-0 runs, including five straight goals to end the game. Hofstra scored its third straight goal to tie the score at eight with 1:17 left in the third quarter, but sophomore Andrew Eichelberger answered with nine seconds remaining in the stanza and Lehigh followed by outscoring the Pride 4-0 in the fourth, on the way to the program's first-ever win over Hofstra. The Mountain Hawks also ended the Pride's four-game winning streak, scoring double-figure goals against Hofstra for the first time this season; the most goals Hofstra had previously allowed was nine against Ohio State. The Pride had allowed just 22 total goals over their four-game winning streak.
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Tuesday featured a strong all-around effort. Junior Andrew Pettit helped lead a Lehigh offense which scored 13 goals against the nation's No. 1 defense. Pettit finished with three goals and four assists, having a hand in more goals (seven) than the Pride were allowing all season (6.33 entering Tuesday). Pettit had a hand in seven of Lehigh's first eight goals, helping the Mountain Hawks stage an 8-2 run to turn a 3-0 deficit into an 8-5 lead. In total, Lehigh's starting attackmen combined for 17 points as junior Tristan Rai added three goals and two assists while classmate Lucas Spence had two goals and a career-high tying three assists. Senior Nolan Apers scored two goals, which came consecutively in the fourth quarter to give Lehigh a 12-8 lead. Sophomore Austin Pierce scored a man-up goal earlier in the quarter while a Spence goal rounded out the scoring in the fourth. Eichelberger tied a career-high two goals for a second straight game. Lehigh assisted on 10 of its 13 goals Tuesday and has assisted on 23-of-32 goals over its past two games.
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Lehigh's defense continued its strong play; after allowing three goals in the game's first 10:43, the Mountain Hawks allowed just five over the final 49:17 to lower its already strong goals against average to 8.11, still No. 6 nationally. Junior Craig Chick led the way with four caused turnovers to move him from 96 to 100 in his career, eclipsing Tripp Telesco's school record of 97. Chick is currently No. 16 in NCAA history in career caused turnovers, just six from tying the Patriot League career mark of 106 held by Colgate's Bobby Lawrence. Freshman Teddy Leggett excelled as well, recording five groundballs and two caused turnovers. Sophomore Conor Gaffney continued his strong play in the faceoff circle, winning 15-of-24 against Hofstra's Kyle Gallagher, who entered the day having won 61.8 percent on the year. Gaffney reached 250 career faceoff wins and 150 groundballs in the victory.
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Navy has had an up-and-down season, bouncing back from an 0-2 start to win four of its last six games. In Patriot League play, the Midshipmen are 3-1, winning at Boston University (10-8), Bucknell (13-8) and home vs. Lafayette (15-5), while falling to Loyola (15-9). Christian Daniel leads the Midshipmen in points with 21 while Jack Ray owns a team-leading 16 goals and Ryan Wade leads the team with 13 assists. Joe Varello has replaced Brady Dove as Navy's primary faceoff specialist and has won 63.2 percent of his draws (91-of-144) with 43 groundballs. Michael Strack leads the defense with 23 groundballs and a team-leading 13 caused turnovers. Ryan Kern has started all eight games in goal, owning a 9.08 goals against average and 46.3 save percentage.
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Navy holds a 32-6 lead in the all-time series following last season's 14-9 victory in Annapolis. The game marked Lehigh's third straight loss in the series after the Mountain Hawks had won five in a row between 2011 and 2014. Five of Lehigh's six all-time wins vs. Navy came in that four-year span. The only other victory came in 1913 by a 4-3 final. In 2011, Lehigh defeated Navy 14-10 in Bethlehem to beat the Mids for the first time in 98 years and snap a 26-game losing streak in the series. The first-ever meeting was in 1910, a 4-2 Navy victory.
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Following Saturday's game, the Mountain Hawks hit the road next Saturday (Mar. 31) to face Boston University at 3:30 p.m.
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Like Lehigh men's lacrosse on Facebook, follow on Twitter and Instagram for continued updates on the Mountain Hawks.
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Players Mentioned
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M/FO
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LSM/D
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A/M
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A/M
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D
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