Saturday, April 20
Bethlehem, Pa.
12 p.m.
Lehigh University
8-6, 5-2PL
10
vs
12
Bucknell
5-8, 3-4PL
1
2
3
4
F
Bucknell
5
1
3
3
12
Lehigh
2
3
4
1
10
Photo by: Hannahally Photography
Lehigh can’t come back against Bucknell, falls 12-10 on Senior Day
4/20/2019 6:11:00 PM | Men's Lacrosse
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Bucknell jumped out to a 5-1 first-quarter lead before the Lehigh men's lacrosse team responded to tie the score at six, nine and 10, but the Bison scored the game's final two goals to defeat the Mountain Hawks, 12-10 on Saturday afternoon. Bucknell goaltender Christian Klipstein stood tall, making 13 second-half saves to thwart Lehigh's comeback attempt. Senior Mickey Fitzpatrick led Lehigh's offense with a career-high six points (three goals, three assists), doubling his previous high of three. Defensively, classmate Craig Chick tallied a season-high six caused turnovers to move to 150 in his career, just eight from tying the all-time NCAA record.
With the loss, Lehigh falls to 8-6 and 5-2 in Patriot League play. With a win in the regular season finale at Holy Cross next Friday night, the Mountain Hawks would clinch the No. 2 seed and a bye into the semifinals of the Patriot League Tournament.
Saturday was Senior Day as Fitzpatrick and Chick were two of the 15 seniors recognized prior to opening faceoff.
"First of all, I feel bad for the seniors," said Lehigh head coach Kevin Cassese. "Obviously on Senior Day, you want to send them out with a win on their home field. They didn't get that today and that was tough. As far as the game was concerned, we spotted them a bunch early and they took advantage of what we were trying to do. For us, it was all systems fail in our game plan early, so we had to make a switch in scheme and I thought that helped us.
Fitzpatrick was the Mountain Hawks' catalyst all game, having a hand in six of their 10 goals. Classmate Lucas Spence tallied a goal and three assists while senior Alexander Tumminello scored twice. Each of Lehigh's six starting attackmen or midfielders scored at least one goal, with freshman Mike Monitto scoring the other.
"We were playing catch-up for most of the day," said Cassese. "We finally caught up there and were tied heading into the fourth quarter. What we needed to do is win a fourth quarter and we didn't do that today. Unfortunately, they outworked us when it mattered most in the fourth."
Defensively, Chick's six caused turnovers led the way. Spence caused two turnovers while sophomore Teddy Leggett grabbed a career-high 11 groundballs, many off faceoffs. Junior Conor Gaffney won 17-of-25 draws with three groundballs to break the program record for groundballs in a season (now 119) and career (now 316). Gaffney broke the marks set by Ryan Snyder '13 – 118 and 313, respectively. Gaffney also moved from ninth in Patriot League history for faceoff wins in a season all the way to fifth (currently 202).
Bucknell jumped out to leads of 3-0 and 5-1 late in the first quarter. Tumminello scored late in the period, sparking a 5-1 run bridging the entire second quarter and beginning of the third. Spence had a hand in three of the next four goals, assisting on junior Andrew Eichelberger's score just 1:50 into the second half which evened the score at 6-6.
The Bison answered with the next two and three of the next four, but the Mountain Hawks scored two goals in the final 48 seconds of the third quarter, both assisted by Fitzpatrick. Goals from Monitto (at the 0:48 mark) and Tumminello (at 0:10) pulled Lehigh even at nine after three quarters.
Bucknell reopened a 10-9 lead at 12:21 of the fourth quarter, Fitzpatrick scored his third exactly one minute later. However, the Bison had one last answer, scoring at 10:13 and adding an insurance goal at 2:46 for the 12-10 final.
Final shots were 45-37 in favor of Lehigh while the Bison held a 36-34 edge in groundballs. Sophomore James Spence made eight saves for the Mountain Hawks across Klipstein, who tallied 15.
The Mountain Hawks wrap up the regular season by traveling to Holy Cross next Friday (Apr. 26) for a 7 p.m. opening faceoff.
"We need to figure out a way to get better," said Cassese. "Whether you win or you lose, you have to learn from it. We'll take this week to do that and try to put our best foot forward against Holy Cross."
Like Lehigh men's lacrosse on Facebook, follow on Twitter and Instagram for continued updates on the Mountain Hawks.
Gallery: (4/21/2019) 2019 Men's Lacrosse Senior Day Ceremony
With the loss, Lehigh falls to 8-6 and 5-2 in Patriot League play. With a win in the regular season finale at Holy Cross next Friday night, the Mountain Hawks would clinch the No. 2 seed and a bye into the semifinals of the Patriot League Tournament.
Saturday was Senior Day as Fitzpatrick and Chick were two of the 15 seniors recognized prior to opening faceoff.
"First of all, I feel bad for the seniors," said Lehigh head coach Kevin Cassese. "Obviously on Senior Day, you want to send them out with a win on their home field. They didn't get that today and that was tough. As far as the game was concerned, we spotted them a bunch early and they took advantage of what we were trying to do. For us, it was all systems fail in our game plan early, so we had to make a switch in scheme and I thought that helped us.
Fitzpatrick was the Mountain Hawks' catalyst all game, having a hand in six of their 10 goals. Classmate Lucas Spence tallied a goal and three assists while senior Alexander Tumminello scored twice. Each of Lehigh's six starting attackmen or midfielders scored at least one goal, with freshman Mike Monitto scoring the other.
"We were playing catch-up for most of the day," said Cassese. "We finally caught up there and were tied heading into the fourth quarter. What we needed to do is win a fourth quarter and we didn't do that today. Unfortunately, they outworked us when it mattered most in the fourth."
Defensively, Chick's six caused turnovers led the way. Spence caused two turnovers while sophomore Teddy Leggett grabbed a career-high 11 groundballs, many off faceoffs. Junior Conor Gaffney won 17-of-25 draws with three groundballs to break the program record for groundballs in a season (now 119) and career (now 316). Gaffney broke the marks set by Ryan Snyder '13 – 118 and 313, respectively. Gaffney also moved from ninth in Patriot League history for faceoff wins in a season all the way to fifth (currently 202).
Bucknell jumped out to leads of 3-0 and 5-1 late in the first quarter. Tumminello scored late in the period, sparking a 5-1 run bridging the entire second quarter and beginning of the third. Spence had a hand in three of the next four goals, assisting on junior Andrew Eichelberger's score just 1:50 into the second half which evened the score at 6-6.
The Bison answered with the next two and three of the next four, but the Mountain Hawks scored two goals in the final 48 seconds of the third quarter, both assisted by Fitzpatrick. Goals from Monitto (at the 0:48 mark) and Tumminello (at 0:10) pulled Lehigh even at nine after three quarters.
Bucknell reopened a 10-9 lead at 12:21 of the fourth quarter, Fitzpatrick scored his third exactly one minute later. However, the Bison had one last answer, scoring at 10:13 and adding an insurance goal at 2:46 for the 12-10 final.
Final shots were 45-37 in favor of Lehigh while the Bison held a 36-34 edge in groundballs. Sophomore James Spence made eight saves for the Mountain Hawks across Klipstein, who tallied 15.
The Mountain Hawks wrap up the regular season by traveling to Holy Cross next Friday (Apr. 26) for a 7 p.m. opening faceoff.
"We need to figure out a way to get better," said Cassese. "Whether you win or you lose, you have to learn from it. We'll take this week to do that and try to put our best foot forward against Holy Cross."
Like Lehigh men's lacrosse on Facebook, follow on Twitter and Instagram for continued updates on the Mountain Hawks.
Team Stats
BUCKNELL
LEHIGH
Shots
37
45
Turnovers
19
21
Caused Turnovers
10
13
Faceoffs Won
8
17
Extra-Man Opps
4
3
Ground Balls
35
34
Game Leaders
G
3
A
3
FO
-
Pen
-
GB
1
CT
0
G
2
A
0
FO
-
Pen
-
GB
0
CT
1
G
1
A
0
FO
-
Pen
-
GB
0
CT
0
G
1
A
1
FO
-
Pen
-
GB
0
CT
0
Players Mentioned
D/LSM
/ Men's Lacrosse
M
/ Men's LacrosseM
/ Men's Lacrosse
M/FO
/ Men's Lacrosse
LSM/D
/ Men's LacrosseM
/ Men's Lacrosse
G
/ Men's Lacrosse
A
/ Men's LacrosseM
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