Lehigh University Athletics
Tuesday, April 24
Bethlehem, Pa.
7 p.m.
Lehigh University
vs
Colgate (Quarterfinals)
Lehigh set to host Colgate in Patriot League Quarterfinals Tuesday night
4/23/2018 5:03:00 PM | Men's Lacrosse
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BETHLEHEM, Pa. - For the first time since 2014, the Lehigh men's lacrosse team is set to host a Patriot League Quarterfinal contest as the fourth-seeded Mountain Hawks will host fifth seed Colgate on Tuesday night. Opening faceoff is set for 7 p.m. at the Ulrich Sports Complex. Lehigh will square off against Colgate in the Patriot League Tournament for the first time since 2013 when it defeated the Raiders in the semifinal round, 15-7.
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Tickets are $8 for the general public and $4 for students, Lehigh faculty/staff, seniors (65+) and children (2-18). Tickets can be purchased in advance by clicking here. The first 50 Lehigh students on Tuesday night are admitted for FREE.
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After a 7-2 start to the season, Lehigh has lost four of its last five, but still finished the regular season with its most overall wins (8) and Patriot League victories (5) since 2014. Each of Lehigh's last four losses (and all six losses on the season) have come against nationally-ranked opponents, or a team (Navy) that went on to be nationally ranked in the ensuing weeks. The Mountain Hawks have also won  a pair of games vs. ranked foes, beating then No. 12 Army West Point (Mar. 10) and then No. 18/19 Hofstra (Mar. 20). Most recently, Lehigh led No. 11/12 Bucknell 5-3 in the second quarter Friday night, but the Bison responded with 10 of the next 11 goals, on its way to a 14-7 win. The Mountain Hawks hung within 8-6 at the half and 10-6 after three quarters, but couldn't get the offense going. Lehigh scored five goals in the game's first 19:51, but just two over the final 40:09. The loss snapped the Mountain Hawks' four-game road winning streak.
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Junior Lucas Spence continued his strong season with a team-high four points via two goals and two assists. He's up to 49 points on the season (29 goals, 20 assists), needing just one point to give Lehigh two players with 50+ points since Dan Taylor (77) and Reid Weber (51) in 2015. Senior Nolan Apers tied a career-high two goals, both coming in the span of 3:29 in the second quarter. Sophomore Conor Gaffney won 14-of-20 faceoffs to up his season percentage to 60.2. Junior Craig Chick had a groundball and caused turnover, moving into a tie for ninth place in NCAA history with 112 career caused turnovers.
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Lehigh finished 1-of-2 on the extra man as Spence converted a man-up goal with 11:43 remaining in the second quarter. Bucknell killed the Mountain Hawks' next advantage, snapping a streak of eight straight successful opportunities. Prior to Friday, Lehigh's previous failed extra-man opportunity came exactly one month prior (Mar. 20 at Hofstra). Lehigh is still 16 of its last 20 on the man-up and 24 of 36 for the season (66.7 percent), which would be second in NCAA history if the season ended today.
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In the end, Lehigh has advanced to its eighth straight Patriot League Tournament. The Mountain Hawks are the only program in the league to reach each of the last eight tournaments. Lehigh will be vying for its first championship since 2013, which marked the second of back-to-back titles. The Mountain Hawks reached the championship game in 2014 before falling in the quarterfinal round in 2015 (at Bucknell), 2016 (at Army West Point) and 2017 (at Boston University). The last time Lehigh was home in the postseason, the Mountain Hawks were the No. 3 seed in 2014 and defeated sixth-seeded Navy in the quarterfinals, 10-6.
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Lehigh will look to snap a four-game home losing streak on Tuesday with its last home vcitory coming against Colgate on Mar. 3. Ironically, the Mountain Hawks began the year 3-0 at home, marking just the second time in seven years that Lehigh won its first three home games. The teams Lehigh has lost to during its four-game home skid currently stand No. 9 (Rutgers), No. 13 (Navy), No. 6 (Loyola) and No. 8 (Cornell) in this week's USILA Coaches Poll.
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Colgate is in the midst of an up-and-down season, finishing the regular season 7-6 overall, 3-5 in Patriot League play. Most recently, the Raiders snapped a three-game losing streak with a 17-9 win at Lafayette to clinch a Patriot League Tournament berth. Colgate also has an impressive nonleague win on its resume over Cornell on Feb. 17. Sam Cleveland leads the Raiders with 29 assists and is tied for the team lead in points (38). Mike Hawkins also has 38 points behind 30 goals and eight assists while Griffin Brown comes in at 35 points (team-leading 32 goals, three assists). Colin Orr has won 60.1 percent of his faceoffs (187-of-311) with a team-leading 69 groundballs while Jack Donaghue owns a team-leading 12 caused turnovers. A pair of goalies have started games between the pipes, led by Connor Mullen, who has tallied a 9.70 goals against average and 0.492 save percentage in 10 games (all starts).
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Lehigh has won three straight and seven of the last eight meetings against Colgate. The Mountain Hawks won 10-7 in the regular season, won at Colgate last March (11-5) and defeated the Raiders in 2016 (12-9). The teams played in the 2013 Patriot League Semifinals (15-7 Lehigh win) and 2012 league title game (16-14 Mountain Hawks' victory). Lehigh's only loss in its last eight meetings came at Colgate on Apr. 4, 2015, a 12-8 Raiders' victory. Lehigh has won four straight at home vs. Colgate. The schools first met in 1956, a 16-0 Colgate victory. Lehigh's first win was in 1960 by an 8-6 final.
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With a win on Tuesday, the Mountain Hawks would advance to the Patriot League Semifinals at Loyola Friday and face either the host Greyhounds or second-seeded Navy. The lowest advancing seed from Tuesday's quarterfinals play top seed Loyola in the semifinals.
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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. - For the first time since 2014, the Lehigh men's lacrosse team is set to host a Patriot League Quarterfinal contest as the fourth-seeded Mountain Hawks will host fifth seed Colgate on Tuesday night. Opening faceoff is set for 7 p.m. at the Ulrich Sports Complex. Lehigh will square off against Colgate in the Patriot League Tournament for the first time since 2013 when it defeated the Raiders in the semifinal round, 15-7.
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Tickets are $8 for the general public and $4 for students, Lehigh faculty/staff, seniors (65+) and children (2-18). Tickets can be purchased in advance by clicking here. The first 50 Lehigh students on Tuesday night are admitted for FREE.
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After a 7-2 start to the season, Lehigh has lost four of its last five, but still finished the regular season with its most overall wins (8) and Patriot League victories (5) since 2014. Each of Lehigh's last four losses (and all six losses on the season) have come against nationally-ranked opponents, or a team (Navy) that went on to be nationally ranked in the ensuing weeks. The Mountain Hawks have also won  a pair of games vs. ranked foes, beating then No. 12 Army West Point (Mar. 10) and then No. 18/19 Hofstra (Mar. 20). Most recently, Lehigh led No. 11/12 Bucknell 5-3 in the second quarter Friday night, but the Bison responded with 10 of the next 11 goals, on its way to a 14-7 win. The Mountain Hawks hung within 8-6 at the half and 10-6 after three quarters, but couldn't get the offense going. Lehigh scored five goals in the game's first 19:51, but just two over the final 40:09. The loss snapped the Mountain Hawks' four-game road winning streak.
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Junior Lucas Spence continued his strong season with a team-high four points via two goals and two assists. He's up to 49 points on the season (29 goals, 20 assists), needing just one point to give Lehigh two players with 50+ points since Dan Taylor (77) and Reid Weber (51) in 2015. Senior Nolan Apers tied a career-high two goals, both coming in the span of 3:29 in the second quarter. Sophomore Conor Gaffney won 14-of-20 faceoffs to up his season percentage to 60.2. Junior Craig Chick had a groundball and caused turnover, moving into a tie for ninth place in NCAA history with 112 career caused turnovers.
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Lehigh finished 1-of-2 on the extra man as Spence converted a man-up goal with 11:43 remaining in the second quarter. Bucknell killed the Mountain Hawks' next advantage, snapping a streak of eight straight successful opportunities. Prior to Friday, Lehigh's previous failed extra-man opportunity came exactly one month prior (Mar. 20 at Hofstra). Lehigh is still 16 of its last 20 on the man-up and 24 of 36 for the season (66.7 percent), which would be second in NCAA history if the season ended today.
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In the end, Lehigh has advanced to its eighth straight Patriot League Tournament. The Mountain Hawks are the only program in the league to reach each of the last eight tournaments. Lehigh will be vying for its first championship since 2013, which marked the second of back-to-back titles. The Mountain Hawks reached the championship game in 2014 before falling in the quarterfinal round in 2015 (at Bucknell), 2016 (at Army West Point) and 2017 (at Boston University). The last time Lehigh was home in the postseason, the Mountain Hawks were the No. 3 seed in 2014 and defeated sixth-seeded Navy in the quarterfinals, 10-6.
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Lehigh will look to snap a four-game home losing streak on Tuesday with its last home vcitory coming against Colgate on Mar. 3. Ironically, the Mountain Hawks began the year 3-0 at home, marking just the second time in seven years that Lehigh won its first three home games. The teams Lehigh has lost to during its four-game home skid currently stand No. 9 (Rutgers), No. 13 (Navy), No. 6 (Loyola) and No. 8 (Cornell) in this week's USILA Coaches Poll.
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Colgate is in the midst of an up-and-down season, finishing the regular season 7-6 overall, 3-5 in Patriot League play. Most recently, the Raiders snapped a three-game losing streak with a 17-9 win at Lafayette to clinch a Patriot League Tournament berth. Colgate also has an impressive nonleague win on its resume over Cornell on Feb. 17. Sam Cleveland leads the Raiders with 29 assists and is tied for the team lead in points (38). Mike Hawkins also has 38 points behind 30 goals and eight assists while Griffin Brown comes in at 35 points (team-leading 32 goals, three assists). Colin Orr has won 60.1 percent of his faceoffs (187-of-311) with a team-leading 69 groundballs while Jack Donaghue owns a team-leading 12 caused turnovers. A pair of goalies have started games between the pipes, led by Connor Mullen, who has tallied a 9.70 goals against average and 0.492 save percentage in 10 games (all starts).
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Lehigh has won three straight and seven of the last eight meetings against Colgate. The Mountain Hawks won 10-7 in the regular season, won at Colgate last March (11-5) and defeated the Raiders in 2016 (12-9). The teams played in the 2013 Patriot League Semifinals (15-7 Lehigh win) and 2012 league title game (16-14 Mountain Hawks' victory). Lehigh's only loss in its last eight meetings came at Colgate on Apr. 4, 2015, a 12-8 Raiders' victory. Lehigh has won four straight at home vs. Colgate. The schools first met in 1956, a 16-0 Colgate victory. Lehigh's first win was in 1960 by an 8-6 final.
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With a win on Tuesday, the Mountain Hawks would advance to the Patriot League Semifinals at Loyola Friday and face either the host Greyhounds or second-seeded Navy. The lowest advancing seed from Tuesday's quarterfinals play top seed Loyola in the semifinals.
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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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D/LSM
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M/FO
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A/M
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