Wednesday, April 10
Bethlehem, Pa.
5 p.m.
Lehigh University
vs
Robert Morris
No. 17 Lehigh returns home to host Robert Morris Wednesday
4/9/2019 10:12:00 AM | Men's Lacrosse
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – The No. 17 Lehigh men's lacrosse team will look to bounce back from a defeat at No. 2 Loyola when the Mountain Hawks return home for a midweek matchup vs. Robert Morris on Wednesday. Opening faceoff is set for 5 p.m. on the Patriot League Network. Wednesday starts three home games for Lehigh in 11 days, also welcoming St. Bonaventure (Apr. 13) and Bucknell (Apr. 20) to close out the home regular-season slate.
Last time out, Lehigh fell into an early hole at No. 2 Loyola, which proved costly in its first defeat since February - snapping a six-game winning streak. The Mountain Hawks fought back to score nine of the game's final 15 goals, but couldn't get any closer than six (10-4, 12-6 then 15-9, which proved to be the final). Lehigh ended up outscoring Loyola 9-6 over the game's final 40:09. The Greyhounds' early blitz included nine goals in the game's first 19:51, with Pat Spencer having a hand on six of them. Spencer finished the game with 11 points (five goals, six assists), his second straight game with 10+ points for arguably the top player in the nation.
Lehigh did a good job on the supporting cast as no other Greyhound had more than three points. That included holding Kevin Lindley to one goal; he had multiple goals in eight of his first nine games of the season and has 41 goals and 44 points on the year. Chase Scanlon had just three points (all goals), tied for his second lowest point total of the season.
Sophomore Teddy Leggett helped lead Lehigh's defense, tallying seven groundballs and four caused turnovers to tie career highs in both categories. Senior Craig Chick had two groundballs and a caused turnover while freshman Tommy Schelling recorded his first-career caused turnover. On the offensive end, Schelling dished a career-high three assists, assisting on Lehigh's first two goals, and final goal of the game.
Junior Ryan Klose scored a career-high two goals, including a man-up tally. Lehigh has recorded an extra-man goal in four straight games, this coming on the heels of three consecutive games without a man-up score. Freshman Cole Kirst tied a career-high two goals at Loyola as well while senior Tristan Rai posted two goals and an assist, and classmate Mickey Fitzpatrick dished two assists. Senior Alexander Tumminello scored a goal, good for his ninth straight game with a goal. Junior Conor Gaffney struggled facing off Saturday, especially by his standards, finishing 10-of-21 with three groundballs. It marked just the second time this season Gaffney finished under 60 percent in a given game. He did eclipse the 500-career win plateau, becoming the first in school history and fourth in league history to reach that milestone. Sophomore James Spence made 12 saves in goal, six coming in the third quarter and three in the fourth.
With the loss, Loyola captured sole possession of first place at 5-0 while Lehigh fell to 5-1. The Mountain Hawks have two Patriot League games remaining (vs. Bucknell and at Holy Cross). They are still alive for first place while finding themselves in a strong position to earn the No. 2 seed and a bye into the semifinals of the Patriot League Tournament. Lehigh is now 3-3 this season vs. ranked opponents. The Mountain Hawks' three losses are against teams currently in the top 10 of this week's national media and coaches polls: Loyola, Virginia and Cornell.
Lehigh will look to get back on track on Wednesday when it hosts Robert Morris in the first-ever meeting between the two sides. Despite owning a 3-7 record, the Colonials were top 20 in the Inside Lacrosse Face-Off Yearbook, coming off an NEC Championship and NCAA Tournament appearance las season.
A preseason top 20 team, the Colonials are 3-7 on the season, but a number of those losses have been slim defeats to quality teams. Included was a 14-11 loss at No. 17/16 Georgetown and double overtime defeat at No. 13/11 High Point. Robert Morris has won two straight, beating Saint Joseph's 15-9 and Wagner 17-6. The Colonials features the nation's 10th most prolific scoring offense (13.30 goals per game), but they've allowed 14.00 goals per contest which is 70th in the nation (out of 73 teams). Five Colonials have 22 points or more, led by Tyson Gibson with 18 goals and a team-leading 22 assists for 40 points. Ryan Smith has 38 points (24 goals, 14 assists) while Corson Kealey has 37 (team-leading 31 goals, six assists). Jack Toomb leads the defense with 17 caused turnovers while faceoff specialist Trey Arnold leads the way with 55 groundballs and a 52.1 percentage (101-of-194). Alex Heger has started all 10 games in goal, tallying a 14.17 goals against average and 47.1 save percentage.
Wednesday will mark the first-ever meeting between Lehigh and Robert Morris.
Following Wednesday's game, the Mountain Hawks return home on Saturday to host St. Bonaventure at 3 p.m.
Like Lehigh men's lacrosse on Facebook, follow on Twitter and Instagram for continued updates on the Mountain Hawks.
Last time out, Lehigh fell into an early hole at No. 2 Loyola, which proved costly in its first defeat since February - snapping a six-game winning streak. The Mountain Hawks fought back to score nine of the game's final 15 goals, but couldn't get any closer than six (10-4, 12-6 then 15-9, which proved to be the final). Lehigh ended up outscoring Loyola 9-6 over the game's final 40:09. The Greyhounds' early blitz included nine goals in the game's first 19:51, with Pat Spencer having a hand on six of them. Spencer finished the game with 11 points (five goals, six assists), his second straight game with 10+ points for arguably the top player in the nation.
Lehigh did a good job on the supporting cast as no other Greyhound had more than three points. That included holding Kevin Lindley to one goal; he had multiple goals in eight of his first nine games of the season and has 41 goals and 44 points on the year. Chase Scanlon had just three points (all goals), tied for his second lowest point total of the season.
Sophomore Teddy Leggett helped lead Lehigh's defense, tallying seven groundballs and four caused turnovers to tie career highs in both categories. Senior Craig Chick had two groundballs and a caused turnover while freshman Tommy Schelling recorded his first-career caused turnover. On the offensive end, Schelling dished a career-high three assists, assisting on Lehigh's first two goals, and final goal of the game.
Junior Ryan Klose scored a career-high two goals, including a man-up tally. Lehigh has recorded an extra-man goal in four straight games, this coming on the heels of three consecutive games without a man-up score. Freshman Cole Kirst tied a career-high two goals at Loyola as well while senior Tristan Rai posted two goals and an assist, and classmate Mickey Fitzpatrick dished two assists. Senior Alexander Tumminello scored a goal, good for his ninth straight game with a goal. Junior Conor Gaffney struggled facing off Saturday, especially by his standards, finishing 10-of-21 with three groundballs. It marked just the second time this season Gaffney finished under 60 percent in a given game. He did eclipse the 500-career win plateau, becoming the first in school history and fourth in league history to reach that milestone. Sophomore James Spence made 12 saves in goal, six coming in the third quarter and three in the fourth.
With the loss, Loyola captured sole possession of first place at 5-0 while Lehigh fell to 5-1. The Mountain Hawks have two Patriot League games remaining (vs. Bucknell and at Holy Cross). They are still alive for first place while finding themselves in a strong position to earn the No. 2 seed and a bye into the semifinals of the Patriot League Tournament. Lehigh is now 3-3 this season vs. ranked opponents. The Mountain Hawks' three losses are against teams currently in the top 10 of this week's national media and coaches polls: Loyola, Virginia and Cornell.
Lehigh will look to get back on track on Wednesday when it hosts Robert Morris in the first-ever meeting between the two sides. Despite owning a 3-7 record, the Colonials were top 20 in the Inside Lacrosse Face-Off Yearbook, coming off an NEC Championship and NCAA Tournament appearance las season.
A preseason top 20 team, the Colonials are 3-7 on the season, but a number of those losses have been slim defeats to quality teams. Included was a 14-11 loss at No. 17/16 Georgetown and double overtime defeat at No. 13/11 High Point. Robert Morris has won two straight, beating Saint Joseph's 15-9 and Wagner 17-6. The Colonials features the nation's 10th most prolific scoring offense (13.30 goals per game), but they've allowed 14.00 goals per contest which is 70th in the nation (out of 73 teams). Five Colonials have 22 points or more, led by Tyson Gibson with 18 goals and a team-leading 22 assists for 40 points. Ryan Smith has 38 points (24 goals, 14 assists) while Corson Kealey has 37 (team-leading 31 goals, six assists). Jack Toomb leads the defense with 17 caused turnovers while faceoff specialist Trey Arnold leads the way with 55 groundballs and a 52.1 percentage (101-of-194). Alex Heger has started all 10 games in goal, tallying a 14.17 goals against average and 47.1 save percentage.
Wednesday will mark the first-ever meeting between Lehigh and Robert Morris.
Following Wednesday's game, the Mountain Hawks return home on Saturday to host St. Bonaventure at 3 p.m.
Like Lehigh men's lacrosse on Facebook, follow on Twitter and Instagram for continued updates on the Mountain Hawks.
Players Mentioned
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