Saturday, February 9
Bethlehem, Pa.
3 p.m.
Lehigh University
1-1
3
vs
4
Hofstra
1-0
1
2
3
4
F
Hofstra
0
1
0
3
4
Lehigh
1
1
1
0
3
Hofstra outscores No. 13 Mountain Hawks 3-0 in fourth quarter to pull out 4-3 win
2/9/2019 9:36:00 PM | Men's Lacrosse
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Leading 3-1 heading to the fourth quarter, the No. 13 Lehigh men's lacrosse team fell victim to a 3-0 Hofstra run to end the game, as the Pride defeated the Mountain Hawks 4-3 on Saturday afternoon at the Ulrich Sports Complex. In a low-scoring, defensive battle, senior Mickey Fitzpatrick scored his second of the game with three seconds left in the third quarter, but Hofstra would take control from there. Sophomore James Spence was sensational in goal for the Mountain Hawks, making a career-high 16 saves, including stopping 14-of-15 shots sent his way over the first three quarters.
"All the credit in the world goes to Hofstra," said Lehigh head coach Kevin Cassese. "Both defenses played really well and the score is indicative of that. I thought the goaltenders played well also, but at the end, you lose 3-0 in the fourth quarter and they proved they were the tougher team today. That's a tough pill to swallow, but the fourth quarter is all about guts and all about toughness, and they wiped us clean 3-0. That was disappointing, but like anything else, we'll learn from it and move on. Lot of adversity this week for sure; eventually it's going to reveal some character. We need to work on that, and we'll do that starting Monday."
Junior Ryan Klose scored Lehigh's other goal while senior Eddie Bouhall assisted on the Mountain Hawks' third-quarter score. Senior Craig Chick tallied five groundballs and two caused turnovers to reach 125 in his career, moving into sole possession of third place in NCAA history in that category. Sophomore Teddy Leggett was tremendous with six groundballs and four caused turnovers to tie a career high.
Lehigh jumped out to a 2-0 lead, with goals from Klose at 2:42 of the first quarter and Fitzpatrick at 6:24 of the second. The Mountain Hawks held the Pride scoreless for the game's first 24:07 until Whit Stopak pulled his team within 2-1 at the half.
The third quarter saw 25 shots between the two teams, with the 25th finding the back of the net on a transition opportunity. Spence made a save on one end, Bouhall made the clear and found Fitzpatrick to give Lehigh a 3-1 advantage.
Hofstra took over in the fourth, however, scoring at the 13:38 and 11:43 marks to pull even, before Matt Elder gave the Pride a 4-3 edge with 1:42 remaining. Lehigh won the ensuing faceoff and had a chance, but the Mountain Hawks' 16th turnover of the game gave the ball back to Pride and they would run out the clock.
Final shots were 38-36 in favor of Lehigh while the Mountain Hawks held a 36-25 edge in groundballs. Hofstra had 19 turnovers, 13 of which were caused by Lehigh. Junior Conor Gaffney was just 2-of-6 facing off through three quarters, but was 4-of-4 in the fourth to finish 6-of-10 with two groundballs. Spence's career-high 16 saves came across Hofstra's Robert Casey, who had 14.
"Both goaltenders played well, which was also a product of the defenses," said Cassese. "Our defense played really well for 55 minutes of this game, but the last five wasn't quite what we wanted. I thought James did a really nice job and I the defense did well."
The Mountain Hawks hit the road for pair of games against top 10 opponents. Lehigh will play at Virginia next Saturday (Feb. 16) at 12 p.m. and Cornell the following Sunday (Feb. 24) at 1 p.m.
Like Lehigh men's lacrosse on Facebook, follow on Twitter and Instagram for continued updates on the Mountain Hawks.
"All the credit in the world goes to Hofstra," said Lehigh head coach Kevin Cassese. "Both defenses played really well and the score is indicative of that. I thought the goaltenders played well also, but at the end, you lose 3-0 in the fourth quarter and they proved they were the tougher team today. That's a tough pill to swallow, but the fourth quarter is all about guts and all about toughness, and they wiped us clean 3-0. That was disappointing, but like anything else, we'll learn from it and move on. Lot of adversity this week for sure; eventually it's going to reveal some character. We need to work on that, and we'll do that starting Monday."
Junior Ryan Klose scored Lehigh's other goal while senior Eddie Bouhall assisted on the Mountain Hawks' third-quarter score. Senior Craig Chick tallied five groundballs and two caused turnovers to reach 125 in his career, moving into sole possession of third place in NCAA history in that category. Sophomore Teddy Leggett was tremendous with six groundballs and four caused turnovers to tie a career high.
With this caused turnover, Craig Chick is now all alone in third place in NCAA history with 125 in his career! pic.twitter.com/avRo4mwSy7
— Lehigh Lacrosse (@LehighLacrosse) February 9, 2019
Lehigh jumped out to a 2-0 lead, with goals from Klose at 2:42 of the first quarter and Fitzpatrick at 6:24 of the second. The Mountain Hawks held the Pride scoreless for the game's first 24:07 until Whit Stopak pulled his team within 2-1 at the half.
All the scoring in the first quarter right here, on this Ryan Klose goal. We head to the second, leading Hofstra 1-0. Watch: https://t.co/lniVr18ACD. pic.twitter.com/PrApxU4bak
— Lehigh Lacrosse (@LehighLacrosse) February 9, 2019
What a sequence ends with a Fitzpatrick goal! 2-0 Lehigh. pic.twitter.com/zzVgxGzBsU
— Lehigh Lacrosse (@LehighLacrosse) February 9, 2019
The third quarter saw 25 shots between the two teams, with the 25th finding the back of the net on a transition opportunity. Spence made a save on one end, Bouhall made the clear and found Fitzpatrick to give Lehigh a 3-1 advantage.
Just in the nick of time, Mickey Fitzpatrick gives Lehigh a 3-1 lead over Hofstra as we head to the fourth. Watch: https://t.co/mKlMiwYGNr pic.twitter.com/g5KUEEbvl9
— Lehigh Lacrosse (@LehighLacrosse) February 9, 2019
Hofstra took over in the fourth, however, scoring at the 13:38 and 11:43 marks to pull even, before Matt Elder gave the Pride a 4-3 edge with 1:42 remaining. Lehigh won the ensuing faceoff and had a chance, but the Mountain Hawks' 16th turnover of the game gave the ball back to Pride and they would run out the clock.
Final shots were 38-36 in favor of Lehigh while the Mountain Hawks held a 36-25 edge in groundballs. Hofstra had 19 turnovers, 13 of which were caused by Lehigh. Junior Conor Gaffney was just 2-of-6 facing off through three quarters, but was 4-of-4 in the fourth to finish 6-of-10 with two groundballs. Spence's career-high 16 saves came across Hofstra's Robert Casey, who had 14.
"Both goaltenders played well, which was also a product of the defenses," said Cassese. "Our defense played really well for 55 minutes of this game, but the last five wasn't quite what we wanted. I thought James did a really nice job and I the defense did well."
Another great save by James Spence. Mountain Hawks still lead 2-1 mid third quarter. Watch: https://t.co/mKlMiwYGNr pic.twitter.com/M8B2VWNBjZ
— Lehigh Lacrosse (@LehighLacrosse) February 9, 2019
The Mountain Hawks hit the road for pair of games against top 10 opponents. Lehigh will play at Virginia next Saturday (Feb. 16) at 12 p.m. and Cornell the following Sunday (Feb. 24) at 1 p.m.
Like Lehigh men's lacrosse on Facebook, follow on Twitter and Instagram for continued updates on the Mountain Hawks.
Team Stats
HOFSTRA
LEHIGH
Shots
36
38
Turnovers
19
16
Caused Turnovers
9
13
Faceoffs Won
4
6
Extra-Man Opps
2
4
Ground Balls
25
36
Game Leaders
G
2
A
0
FO
-
Pen
-
GB
3
CT
0
G
1
A
0
FO
-
Pen
-
GB
2
CT
0
G
0
A
0
FO
-
Pen
-
GB
0
CT
0
G
0
A
0
FO
-
Pen
-
GB
0
CT
0
Players Mentioned
D
/ Men's Lacrosse
D/LSM
/ Men's LacrosseA/M
/ Men's Lacrosse
M/FO
/ Men's LacrosseA
/ Men's Lacrosse
LSM/D
/ Men's Lacrosse
G
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