Sunday, March 17
Bethlehem, Pa.
1 p.m.
Lehigh University
vs
Lafayette
Lehigh set to host Lafayette in The Rivalry Sunday afternoon
3/15/2019 1:12:00 PM | Men's Lacrosse
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Riding high after three straight wins over ranked foes, the No. 16 Lehigh men's lacrosse team returns to Patriot League play on Sunday when it hosts rival Lafayette. Opening faceoff is set for 1 p.m. at the Ulrich Sports Complex. The Mountain Hawks have beaten No. 16 Colgate (10-8), No. 17 Army West Point (11-8) and No. 15 Rutgers (13-10) in succession to improve to 4-3 on the season, beating three straight ranked opponents for the first time since 2013. On Tuesday, Lehigh picked up its first win over Rutgers since 1961, snapping a 13-game losing streak against the Scarlet Knights.
On Tuesday, Lehigh picked up a huge win at Rutgers in a nationally-televised showdown on the Big Ten Network. The Mountain Hawks enjoyed a strong start, leading 1-0, 2-1, 3-2 and 5-4, but the Scarlet Knights responded to take an 8-5 lead late in the third quarter. Senior Craig Chick caused a turnover on one end and scored a goal just moments later on the other, helping spark the first of two 4-0 runs down the stretch. The first came in the final 3:10 of the third quarter to take a 9-8 lead. Then, after Rutgers scored at 10:20 and 9:37 of the fourth, the Mountain Hawks scored four times in the final 5:50 to turn a 10-9 deficit into a 13-10 win.
Freshman Tommy Schelling scored the game-winning goal with 2:19 remaining, giving Lehigh an 11-10 lead. Senior Alexander Tumminello added his career-high fourth of the game at the 1:21 mark, and junior Christian McHugh scored his first-career goal with 30 seconds remaining.
Tumminello led the offense with four goals and now leads the Mountain Hawks with 13 goals on the season, already eight more goals than he had in his career entering the season. Senior Lucas Spence had two goals and two assists, with two goals and one assist coming in the game's final 15:05. In the end, he had a hand in three of Lehigh's final five goals. Senior Mickey Fitzpatrick helped spark Lehigh's start with two of its first four goals. Schelling finished with two points, also dishing an assist on McHugh's final goal.
Sophomore James Spence was tremendous in goal, making a career-high 17 saves, nine in the first half and eight in the second. He stopped five-of-seven shots in the fourth to help in the Mountain Hawks' comeback. It marked his second game this season with 16 or more saves, as he owns an 8.80 goals against average and 55.2 save percentage on the year. In the process, he eclipsed 200 career saves. Meanwhile, junior faceoff specialist Conor Gaffney struggled a bit, especially early, but sophomore Joel Trucksess entered and won 8-of-10 faceoffs with four groundballs. He also scored a big goal just 12 seconds after Chick, to quickly pull the Mountain Hawks back within 8-7. Despite Gaffney's struggles, he still finished a respectable 8-of-17, and eclipsed 250 career faceoff wins in the process.
Defensively, Chick had three groundballs and three caused turnovers, all three caused turnovers coming in the game's final 19 minutes. Sophomore Teddy Leggett added six groundballs and a caused turnover. As a team, the defense continues to be strong and is currently seventh nationally, allowing just 9.00 goals per game. Lehigh's man-down defense is fourth (82.6 percent). The Mountain Hawks are fifth in both groundballs per game (40.0) and faceoff winning percentage (67.9).
Lehigh actually lost many statistical battles on Tuesday, including shots (45-34), groundballs (39-36), but Spence's saves and Trucksess' second-half faceoff wins proved critical.
The Mountain Hawks return to league play Sunday vs. their rivals from Easton. Lafayette has enjoyed a strong start to its season under first-year head coach Patrick Myers, currently standing 4-4 on the year. Lehigh will be eying its 10th straight win over Lafayette on Sunday.
Lafayette has enjoyed a resurgent season under first-year head coach Patrick Myers, standing 4-4. The Leopards won four straight games, over NJIT (14-10), Wagner (13-10), Manhattan (13-5) and Binghamton (13-12) before dropping three straight - against Army West Point, Navy and Cleveland State. Six different players have recorded double-figure points, led by 23 (12 goals, 11 assists) from Conor Walters. Andrew Robbins owns a team-leading 17 goals. Chris Adamo leads the Leopards in groundballs (27) and caused turnovers (11). Lafayette has struggled facing off, winning just 33.0 percent on the year. Ryan Ness has played every minute in goal, tallying a 10.63 GAA and 47.5 save percentage.
Lehigh has beaten Lafayette in 17 of its last 18 tries, winning convincingly each of the last two years - 19-11 last season and 15-7 in 2017. As part of Lehigh's nine-game winning streak, eight of them have come by five goals or more. The only closer contest was an 11-10 Lehigh win in 2015. Overall, Lehigh leads the all-time series, 68-21-1. The long-time rivals first met in 1926, a 9-0 Lehigh victory. Lehigh won 10 in a row before the first Lafayette win in 1935.
Following Sunday's game, the Mountain Hawks hit the road on Saturday (Mar. 23) to face Navy at 12 p.m.
Like Lehigh men's lacrosse on Facebook, follow on Twitter and Instagram for continued updates on the Mountain Hawks.
Don't miss The Rivalry on the lacrosse field Sunday vs. Lafayette. 1 p.m. opening faceoff. The first 50 fans will get a FREE Beat Lafayette t-shirt.
— Lehigh Lacrosse (@LehighLacrosse) March 15, 2019
🎫: https://t.co/KYy9VNNSxS pic.twitter.com/aUFYotMFJk
On Tuesday, Lehigh picked up a huge win at Rutgers in a nationally-televised showdown on the Big Ten Network. The Mountain Hawks enjoyed a strong start, leading 1-0, 2-1, 3-2 and 5-4, but the Scarlet Knights responded to take an 8-5 lead late in the third quarter. Senior Craig Chick caused a turnover on one end and scored a goal just moments later on the other, helping spark the first of two 4-0 runs down the stretch. The first came in the final 3:10 of the third quarter to take a 9-8 lead. Then, after Rutgers scored at 10:20 and 9:37 of the fourth, the Mountain Hawks scored four times in the final 5:50 to turn a 10-9 deficit into a 13-10 win.
Freshman Tommy Schelling scored the game-winning goal with 2:19 remaining, giving Lehigh an 11-10 lead. Senior Alexander Tumminello added his career-high fourth of the game at the 1:21 mark, and junior Christian McHugh scored his first-career goal with 30 seconds remaining.
Tumminello led the offense with four goals and now leads the Mountain Hawks with 13 goals on the season, already eight more goals than he had in his career entering the season. Senior Lucas Spence had two goals and two assists, with two goals and one assist coming in the game's final 15:05. In the end, he had a hand in three of Lehigh's final five goals. Senior Mickey Fitzpatrick helped spark Lehigh's start with two of its first four goals. Schelling finished with two points, also dishing an assist on McHugh's final goal.
Sophomore James Spence was tremendous in goal, making a career-high 17 saves, nine in the first half and eight in the second. He stopped five-of-seven shots in the fourth to help in the Mountain Hawks' comeback. It marked his second game this season with 16 or more saves, as he owns an 8.80 goals against average and 55.2 save percentage on the year. In the process, he eclipsed 200 career saves. Meanwhile, junior faceoff specialist Conor Gaffney struggled a bit, especially early, but sophomore Joel Trucksess entered and won 8-of-10 faceoffs with four groundballs. He also scored a big goal just 12 seconds after Chick, to quickly pull the Mountain Hawks back within 8-7. Despite Gaffney's struggles, he still finished a respectable 8-of-17, and eclipsed 250 career faceoff wins in the process.
Defensively, Chick had three groundballs and three caused turnovers, all three caused turnovers coming in the game's final 19 minutes. Sophomore Teddy Leggett added six groundballs and a caused turnover. As a team, the defense continues to be strong and is currently seventh nationally, allowing just 9.00 goals per game. Lehigh's man-down defense is fourth (82.6 percent). The Mountain Hawks are fifth in both groundballs per game (40.0) and faceoff winning percentage (67.9).
Lehigh actually lost many statistical battles on Tuesday, including shots (45-34), groundballs (39-36), but Spence's saves and Trucksess' second-half faceoff wins proved critical.
The Mountain Hawks return to league play Sunday vs. their rivals from Easton. Lafayette has enjoyed a strong start to its season under first-year head coach Patrick Myers, currently standing 4-4 on the year. Lehigh will be eying its 10th straight win over Lafayette on Sunday.
.@CoachCassese previews Sunday's home game vs. rival Lafayette. 1 p.m. faceoff. pic.twitter.com/CYp1XmpGLk
— Lehigh Lacrosse (@LehighLacrosse) March 15, 2019
Lafayette has enjoyed a resurgent season under first-year head coach Patrick Myers, standing 4-4. The Leopards won four straight games, over NJIT (14-10), Wagner (13-10), Manhattan (13-5) and Binghamton (13-12) before dropping three straight - against Army West Point, Navy and Cleveland State. Six different players have recorded double-figure points, led by 23 (12 goals, 11 assists) from Conor Walters. Andrew Robbins owns a team-leading 17 goals. Chris Adamo leads the Leopards in groundballs (27) and caused turnovers (11). Lafayette has struggled facing off, winning just 33.0 percent on the year. Ryan Ness has played every minute in goal, tallying a 10.63 GAA and 47.5 save percentage.
Lehigh has beaten Lafayette in 17 of its last 18 tries, winning convincingly each of the last two years - 19-11 last season and 15-7 in 2017. As part of Lehigh's nine-game winning streak, eight of them have come by five goals or more. The only closer contest was an 11-10 Lehigh win in 2015. Overall, Lehigh leads the all-time series, 68-21-1. The long-time rivals first met in 1926, a 9-0 Lehigh victory. Lehigh won 10 in a row before the first Lafayette win in 1935.
Following Sunday's game, the Mountain Hawks hit the road on Saturday (Mar. 23) to face Navy at 12 p.m.
Like Lehigh men's lacrosse on Facebook, follow on Twitter and Instagram for continued updates on the Mountain Hawks.
Players Mentioned
D/LSM
/ Men's Lacrosse
M
/ Men's Lacrosse
M/FO
/ Men's Lacrosse
LSM/D
/ Men's Lacrosse
M
/ Men's Lacrosse
A
/ Men's Lacrosse
G
/ Men's Lacrosse
A
/ Men's Lacrosse
M/FO
/ Men's Lacrosse
M
/ Men's LacrosseLehigh Sports Central: Men's Lacrosse
Thursday, April 24
2025 Season Preview: Men's Lacrosse
Friday, January 31
Lehigh Sports Central: Men's Lacrosse
Wednesday, April 10
