Friday, April 26
Worcester, Mass.
7 p.m.
Lehigh University
8-7, 5-3PL
7
at
12
Holy Cross
7-6, 4-4PL
1
2
3
4
F
Lehigh
1
2
3
1
7
Holy Cross
2
4
2
4
12
Lehigh drops regular season finale at Holy Cross, but still earns bye in PL Tournament
4/26/2019 10:34:00 PM | Men's Lacrosse
WORCESTER, Mass. – Holy Cross used a 5-0 run bridging the second and third quarters to open a 7-3 lead, Lehigh was able to pull within two, but the Crusaders held a 4-1 edge in the fourth to down the Mountain Hawks, 12-7 on a cold and rainy Friday evening. Despite the defeat, Lehigh will enter the Patriot League Tournament as the No. 2 seed due to Boston University's loss at Navy. Lehigh, Boston U. and Army West Point are all 5-3, but the Mountain Hawks defeated both the Terriers and Black Knights to earn the tiebreaker. The No. 2 seed marks Lehigh's highest seed since 2013.
Turnovers really hurt the Mountain Hawks on a chilly and rainy night. Lehigh had a season-high 28, while the Crusaders had 17 turnovers themselves.
Senior Tristan Rai led the Lehigh offense with three goals for his 17th career hat trick, reaching 97 career goals in the process. Senior Lucas Spence had three points (one goal, one assist) while juniors Parker Kent and Ryan Klose had a goal and assist apiece. For Kent, it marked his first-career multi-point game.
Senior Craig Chick led the defense with four groundballs and four caused turnovers, reaching 154 career caused turnovers in the process. He moved into sole possession of second place in NCAA history, just four from tying the all-time NCAA record. Sophomore Teddy Leggett also had four groundballs and a caused turnover in the defeat.
In a battle of top five faceoff men nationally, junior Conor Gaffney continued his strong play, winning 14-of-23 (60.9 percent), including 10-of-12 in the second half. Gaffney is up to 216 faceoff wins this season, moving from fifth to second in Patriot League history.
Rai opened the scoring at the 11:10 mark in transition following a Chick caused turnover. The Crusaders scored the next two, but Lehigh came right back with goals from Rai (at 12:53 of the second quarter) and Spence (at 8:52) to regain a lead.
From there, the Crusaders scored five straight goals, eventually taking a 7-3 advantage at 9:49 of the third quarter. Lehigh responded with two straight and three of the next four, as a Kent goal from Spence pulled the Mountain Hawks within 8-6 after 45 minutes of play.
That's as close as they would come, however, as Holy Cross scored the next three and four of the game's final five goals – Lehigh's only goal coming from Klose – to pull away.
Final shots were 37-29 in favor of the Crusaders while Lehigh held a 37-32 edge in groundballs. Sophomore James Spence made 11 saves for the Mountain Hawks across Jonathan Tesoro, who tallied seven.
Lehigh will return to action next Friday for the Patriot League Semifinals. The Mountain Hawks will play the highest remaining seed following Tuesday's quarterfinals, and could play No. 3 Boston University, No. 4 Army West Point or No. 5 Holy Cross depending on Tuesday's results. The semifinals and championship game will be held at No. 1 seed Loyola. Lehigh's semifinal gametime, regardless of opponent, will be 8 p.m.
Like Lehigh men's lacrosse on Facebook, follow on Twitter and Instagram for continued updates on the Mountain Hawks.
Turnovers really hurt the Mountain Hawks on a chilly and rainy night. Lehigh had a season-high 28, while the Crusaders had 17 turnovers themselves.
Senior Tristan Rai led the Lehigh offense with three goals for his 17th career hat trick, reaching 97 career goals in the process. Senior Lucas Spence had three points (one goal, one assist) while juniors Parker Kent and Ryan Klose had a goal and assist apiece. For Kent, it marked his first-career multi-point game.
Senior Craig Chick led the defense with four groundballs and four caused turnovers, reaching 154 career caused turnovers in the process. He moved into sole possession of second place in NCAA history, just four from tying the all-time NCAA record. Sophomore Teddy Leggett also had four groundballs and a caused turnover in the defeat.
In a battle of top five faceoff men nationally, junior Conor Gaffney continued his strong play, winning 14-of-23 (60.9 percent), including 10-of-12 in the second half. Gaffney is up to 216 faceoff wins this season, moving from fifth to second in Patriot League history.
Rai opened the scoring at the 11:10 mark in transition following a Chick caused turnover. The Crusaders scored the next two, but Lehigh came right back with goals from Rai (at 12:53 of the second quarter) and Spence (at 8:52) to regain a lead.
Craig Chick caused turnover leads to a Tristan Rai goal and the Mountain Hawks are out to a quick 1-0 lead!
— Lehigh Lacrosse (@LehighLacrosse) April 26, 2019
Watch: https://t.co/lniVr18ACD pic.twitter.com/vbLbSaW4Bd
Lucas Spence with a TOUGH effort to give the Mountain Hawks the lead back!
— Lehigh Lacrosse (@LehighLacrosse) April 27, 2019
Watch: https://t.co/lniVr18ACD pic.twitter.com/E2AbaCgor7
From there, the Crusaders scored five straight goals, eventually taking a 7-3 advantage at 9:49 of the third quarter. Lehigh responded with two straight and three of the next four, as a Kent goal from Spence pulled the Mountain Hawks within 8-6 after 45 minutes of play.
HUGE goal from Parker Kent to pull the Mountain Hawks within two as we head to the fourth.
— Lehigh Lacrosse (@LehighLacrosse) April 27, 2019
Watch: https://t.co/lniVr18ACD pic.twitter.com/PbvfEQV2Kl
That's as close as they would come, however, as Holy Cross scored the next three and four of the game's final five goals – Lehigh's only goal coming from Klose – to pull away.
Final shots were 37-29 in favor of the Crusaders while Lehigh held a 37-32 edge in groundballs. Sophomore James Spence made 11 saves for the Mountain Hawks across Jonathan Tesoro, who tallied seven.
Holy Cross opened the fourth quarter with two goals, then Spence made another HUGE stop to keep the Mountain Hawks within four.
— Lehigh Lacrosse (@LehighLacrosse) April 27, 2019
Watch: https://t.co/lniVr18ACD pic.twitter.com/VPY5bhWwhW
Lehigh will return to action next Friday for the Patriot League Semifinals. The Mountain Hawks will play the highest remaining seed following Tuesday's quarterfinals, and could play No. 3 Boston University, No. 4 Army West Point or No. 5 Holy Cross depending on Tuesday's results. The semifinals and championship game will be held at No. 1 seed Loyola. Lehigh's semifinal gametime, regardless of opponent, will be 8 p.m.
Like Lehigh men's lacrosse on Facebook, follow on Twitter and Instagram for continued updates on the Mountain Hawks.
Team Stats
LEHIGH
HC
Shots
29
37
Turnovers
28
17
Caused Turnovers
5
11
Faceoffs Won
14
9
Extra-Man Opps
2
2
Ground Balls
37
32
Game Leaders
G
3
A
0
FO
-
Pen
-
GB
0
CT
0
G
1
A
1
FO
-
Pen
-
GB
0
CT
0
G
1
A
1
FO
-
Pen
-
GB
1
CT
0
G
1
A
0
FO
-
Pen
-
GB
5
CT
0
Players Mentioned
D/LSM
/ Men's Lacrosse
M/FO
/ Men's LacrosseM
/ Men's LacrosseA
/ Men's Lacrosse
LSM/D
/ Men's LacrosseA
/ Men's Lacrosse
G
/ Men's Lacrosse
A
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