Fast start leads No. 11/12 Loyola past No. 15/17 Mountain Hawks

Saturday, April 7

Bethlehem, Pa.

1 p.m.

Lehigh University

8-4, 5-2PL

Loyola

7-3, 5-1PL

Team	1	2	3	4	Final F
Loyola Maryland	5	3	6	2	16
Lehigh	0	1	3	6	10

Fast start leads No. 11/12 Loyola past No. 15/17 Mountain Hawks

4/7/2018 8:54:00 PM | Men's Lacrosse

Box Score

BETHLEHEM, Pa. – No. 11/12 Loyola jumped out to a 7-0 second-quarter lead, which proved too much for the No. 15/17 Lehigh men's lacrosse team to overcome in a 16-10 defeat on Saturday at the Ulrich Sports Complex. The Mountain Hawks scored seven of the game's final nine goals, holding a 6-2 fourth-quarter edge, but it wasn't enough. Junior Andrew Pettit led the offense with his 13th-career hat trick while sophomore Austin Pierce scored two goals in the span of 16 seconds in the fourth and senior Brady Thompson netted his first-career goal.

"For Loyola, it was as close to a perfect game as you could have," said Lehigh head coach Kevin Cassese. "We dug ourselves a hole that we couldn't get out of. All the credit goes to them. Honestly, we didn't really have a chance to get going and that was really the difference in the game."

Along with Pettit and Pierce, juniors Tristan Rai, Lucas Spence and Mickey Fitzpatrick all tallied a goal and assist while senior Ian Strain dished two assists. In the end, the Mountain Hawks won just 6-of-21 faceoffs through the first three quarters and couldn't get into any rhythm.

"They were playing make it, take it early on - winning faceoffs and scoring goals," said Cassese. "I give them all the credit. They have, in my opinion, the player of the year in their attack unit (Pat Spencer). When you let them play that much offense, it's going to be a tough day for you."

Spencer finished the day with seven points (four goals, three assists) and had a hat trick by the end of the first quarter.

The Greyhounds opened a 7-0 lead before Craig Chick fired home a shot with 3:38 remaining in the second quarter. Loyola extended its lead to 10-1 just minutes into the third quarter. Pettit scored two straight goals, but the Greyhounds erased any doubt by scoring four times in the span of 3:03 to take a 14-3 advantage late in the third.

Fitzpatrick converted on the extra man late in the third, then Lehigh went on to outscore the Greyhounds 6-2 in the fourth. That quarter included Pettit's third goal, two goals from Pierce at the 2:48 and 2:32 marks, then the first-career from Thompson to pull Lehigh within 16-10 at the final horn.

The Mountain Hawks outshot Loyola 14-6 in the fourth to lead 33-32 for the game. The Greyhounds held a 33-30 edge in groundballs. Loyola won 18-of-30 faceoffs. One bright spot for Lehigh was freshman Joel Trucksess, who won 6-of-9. The Mountain Hawks converted their only extra-man opportunity and have now converted 12 of their last 15.

Despite the loss, Lehigh did clinch at least a top-four seed in the Patriot League Tournament due to out-of-town scores. If it finishes as the No. 3 or 4 seed, Lehigh will be home for a Patriot League Quarterfinal game for the first time since 2014. The Mountain Hawks are still mathematically alive to earn a top-two seed and bye into the Patriot League Semifinals.

Lehigh will return home next Saturday (Apr. 14) for another nationally-ranked matchup on CBS Sports Network. Lehigh will host No. 10/13 Cornell at 2:30 p.m.

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