No. 17/19 Lehigh looks to bounce back at Boston University Saturday

Saturday, March 31

Boston, Mass.

3:30 p.m.

Lehigh University

Boston University

No. 17/19 Lehigh looks to bounce back at Boston University Saturday

3/29/2018 4:36:00 PM | Men's Lacrosse

Game Notes | Watch Live (PLN) | Live Stats

BETHLEHEM, Pa. - Following five games in 15 days, the No. 17/19 Lehigh men's lacrosse team begins its final four-game stretch of the season on Saturday when it travels to Boston University to face the Terriers. Opening faceoff is set for 3:30 p.m. The Mountain Hawks are coming off a tough 10-7 defeat to Navy on Saturday, marking Lehigh's first Patriot League loss of the season. It was Lehigh's second consecutive home defeat, also dropping a hard-fought 8-7 final to No. 16/18 Rutgers 10 days prior. The Mountain Hawks did win all three road games over those 15 days, including two over nationally-ranked teams.

With a win on Saturday, Lehigh would clinch its eighth straight Patriot League Tournament berth; Lehigh and Army West Point are the only two teams to have advanced to each of the last seven tourneys.

Most recently, Lehigh got off to a slow start against Navy, but scored three of the final four first-half goals, to pull even at four at the half. Junior Andrew Pettit scored two extra-man goals in the span of 46 seconds to quickly turn a 4-2 deficit into a 4-4 deadlock. The Midshipmen responded by scoring the first three third-quarter goals before the stanza was 10 minutes old. Juniors Craig Chick and Lucas Spence scored goals in the span of 1:08 late in the third to pull the Mountain Hawks within 7-6. Eddie Bouhall had a shot in the final minute of the third looking to pull Lehigh even, but Navy goalkeeper Ryan Kern made one of his 18 saves, leading to a transition goal on the other end and an 8-6 Midshipmen lead. Navy went on to take a 10-6 lead, on the way to the 10-7 victory.

Kern was the story of the game as Lehigh held the statistical edge in nearly every category except goals and saves. The Mountain Hawks held a 38-26 edge in shots, 39-27 advantage in groundballs and won 13-of-21 faceoffs. Lehigh was 2-of-2 on the extra man to increase its season percentage to 62.1 percent (18-of-29). That percentage is just behind Maryland's 62.5 percentage for first place in the nation. Both Maryland Lehigh would be among the top three percentages in NCAA history if the season ended today. Detroit holds the all-time record, converting at a 70.8 percent clip in 2014. Second place entering the year was Marist at 60.7 percent in 2016.

Pettit finished the day with two goals and an assist, as did Spence. Classmate Tristan Rai had a goal and two assists while senior Ian Strain scored his first goal of the season, while adding an assist. Defensively, Chick posted a goal, four groundballs and four caused turnovers to reach 104 in his career; he is now within two of tying and three of breaking the Patriot League all-time record held by Colgate's Bobby Lawrence. Bouhall tied career highs in groundballs (6) and caused turnovers (4) to eclipse 50 caused turnovers in his career. Attackman Rai recorded a career-high two caused turnovers and now has a caused turnover in three straight contests. Freshman Teddy Leggett recorded five groundballs and two caused turnovers for a second straight game.

Sophomore Conor Gaffney continued his strong play facing off, winning 13-of-21 with eight groundballs. It marked Gaffney's second straight game over 60 percent on the day against an opponent who entered the day over 60 percent on the season. Gaffney was recognized with Patriot League Faceoff Specialist of the Week honors for a third consecutive week. He has earned a league weekly award in 4-of-8 weeks this season and 10-of-20 weeks in his career.

Saturday will mark a rematch of last season's Patriot League Quarterfinal at Boston University. The Mountain Hawks dropped a 10-4 final, their first-ever loss against the Terriers. In the regular season, Lehigh picked up a 10-6 win over No. 16/18 Boston University.

Boston University has had an up-and-down season, currently standing 5-5 on the year. After beginning the season in the national rankings, the Terriers won four of their first six games with their only losses coming to Ohio State (15-9) and Navy (10-8). Boston University lost three straight, vs. Colgate, at Bucknell and at Harvard in overtime before bouncing back with a 12-8 win at Lafayette this past Saturday. The Terriers lost some talented seniors from last year's team, including leading scorer Cal Dearth and goalie Christian Carson-Banister. Boston University still features plenty of talent, though, as freshman Chris Gray leads the team with 46 points (18 goals, team-leading 28 assists) while James Burr has 34 (26 goals, eight assists) and Jack Wilson owns 30 (22 goals, eight assists). Four different players have 50 or more faceoff attempts, together winning 45.0 of its draws on the season. Joe McSorley has been solid in goal, owning a 11.18 goals against average and 0.511 save percentage.

Lehigh won the first four games against Boston University in the all-time series before dropping a 10-4 final in Boston in last season's Patriot League Quarterfinals. Lehigh's 10-6 regular-season win earlier in the year was actually the Mountain Hawks' largest-ever margin of victory against the Terriers. The other wins were 10-7 in 2014, 10-9 in 2015 and 8-7 in 2016. The last time the teams played a regular-season game in Boston, Chris Appell scored the game-winning goal late in regulation to send the Mountain Hawks home winners.

After Saturday's game, the Mountain Hawks return home next Saturday (Apr. 7) to host Loyola at 1 p.m. on CBS Sports Network.

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