Thursday, February 20
Bethlehem, Pa.
5 p.m.
Lehigh University
vs
VMI
Photo by: Maddy Hite
No. 18 Lehigh begins busy stretch with home matchup vs. VMI Thursday
2/19/2020 1:02:00 PM | Men's Lacrosse
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Following a hard-fought defeat at No. 1/2 Virginia, the No. 18 Lehigh men's lacrosse team returns home to host VMI on Thursday, presented by Lehigh Valley Hotel and Conference Center. Opening faceoff against the Keydets is set for 5 p.m. on the Patriot League Network. The Mountain Hawks will follow less than 48 hours later with a trip to NJIT on Saturday for their second game in three days.
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Last time out, Lehigh fell behind 6-1 to the Cavaliers after a quarter of play, but quickly rebounded to get back into the game. The Mountain Hawks scored the first three goals of the second quarter to pull within 6-4. That's as close as Lehigh would come, as UVA slowly increased its lead back. The Mountain Hawks were still within four goals entering the fourth quarter and again following consecutive Ryan Klose goals in the fourth, but it wasn't enough.
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Klose finished with a career-high three goals for his first-career hat trick. Sophomore Tommy Schelling added three goals and an assist to up his season totals to 10 goals and three assists after just two games. Two others recorded points, as senior Crew Cintron and freshman Christian Mule' each had a goal and assist. Defensively, junior Matt Douglas recorded six groundballs and three caused turnovers while sophomore Anthony Tangredi had two groundballs and two caused turnovers. Tangredi currently stands 12th nationally with 2.50 caused turnovers per game (five total).
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Schelling also finds himself near the top of the national rankings, currently standing fourth in goals per contest (5.0) and ninth in points per game (6.5). As a team, the Mountain Hawks remained in the Inside Lacrosse Media Poll and US Lacrosse Top 25, coming in at No. 18 in both. Lehigh is receiving votes in the USILA Coaches Poll.
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Last Saturday marked Lehigh's second straight competitive contest at UVA, last year falling 11-8 against a Cavaliers' team that would go on to win the national championship. Virginia ranked No. 1 in the Coaches Poll and No. 2 in the Media Poll. The Mountain Hawks will also face Penn State in March, who are now No. 1 in both polls (as of this Monday). After the Cavaliers scored six goals in the game's first 13:21, the Mountain Hawks held down their potent offense to just six over the final 46:39.
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The Mountain Hawks will end the month of February with three games in eight days. After the VMI and NJIT contests, Lehigh will turn its focus to the Patriot League opener at home vs. Navy on Saturday, Feb. 29.
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VMI finished last season 4-9, posting the program's most wins since 2012. The Keydets' top four scorers from 2019 return in Johnny Daniel (25 goals), Ryan Perouty (24), Josh Bass (15) and Jon Fant (12). In VMI's season opener at Manhattan last weekend, the Jaspers opened a 5-0 lead after one quarter, but the Keydets responded by scoring three goals in the second quarter and five in the fourth to pull within 10-8 at the final horn. Perouty led the offense with two goals and two assists while Josh Bass and John Daniel each scored twice. Despite falling, VMI held a 39-26 edge in shots.
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Lehigh leads the all-time series with VMI, 12-5, which includes nine straight victories. Lehigh's last loss to the Keydets came on Mar. 11, 1995 at VMI, a 15-12 defeat. Since, Lehigh has responded with wins every year from 1996 through 2001 then 2003, 2012 and 2013. The Mountain Hawks faced VMI in each of their Patriot League Title seasons, winning at VMI in 2012 (6-2) and at home in 2013 (18-2). Overall, the Mountain Hawks are 11-1 over their last 12 vs. VMI. Lehigh's last home loss in the series came in 1992 (11-10). Lehigh and VMI first met in 1988, a 14-9 Keydets' victory.
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Following Thursday's game, the Mountain Hawks return to action in less than 48 hours when they travel to NJIT on Saturday to face the Highlanders. Gametime is set for 12 p.m.
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Like Lehigh men's lacrosse on Facebook, follow on Twitter and Instagram for continued updates on the Mountain Hawks.        Â
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Last time out, Lehigh fell behind 6-1 to the Cavaliers after a quarter of play, but quickly rebounded to get back into the game. The Mountain Hawks scored the first three goals of the second quarter to pull within 6-4. That's as close as Lehigh would come, as UVA slowly increased its lead back. The Mountain Hawks were still within four goals entering the fourth quarter and again following consecutive Ryan Klose goals in the fourth, but it wasn't enough.
Â
Klose finished with a career-high three goals for his first-career hat trick. Sophomore Tommy Schelling added three goals and an assist to up his season totals to 10 goals and three assists after just two games. Two others recorded points, as senior Crew Cintron and freshman Christian Mule' each had a goal and assist. Defensively, junior Matt Douglas recorded six groundballs and three caused turnovers while sophomore Anthony Tangredi had two groundballs and two caused turnovers. Tangredi currently stands 12th nationally with 2.50 caused turnovers per game (five total).
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Schelling also finds himself near the top of the national rankings, currently standing fourth in goals per contest (5.0) and ninth in points per game (6.5). As a team, the Mountain Hawks remained in the Inside Lacrosse Media Poll and US Lacrosse Top 25, coming in at No. 18 in both. Lehigh is receiving votes in the USILA Coaches Poll.
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Last Saturday marked Lehigh's second straight competitive contest at UVA, last year falling 11-8 against a Cavaliers' team that would go on to win the national championship. Virginia ranked No. 1 in the Coaches Poll and No. 2 in the Media Poll. The Mountain Hawks will also face Penn State in March, who are now No. 1 in both polls (as of this Monday). After the Cavaliers scored six goals in the game's first 13:21, the Mountain Hawks held down their potent offense to just six over the final 46:39.
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The Mountain Hawks will end the month of February with three games in eight days. After the VMI and NJIT contests, Lehigh will turn its focus to the Patriot League opener at home vs. Navy on Saturday, Feb. 29.
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VMI finished last season 4-9, posting the program's most wins since 2012. The Keydets' top four scorers from 2019 return in Johnny Daniel (25 goals), Ryan Perouty (24), Josh Bass (15) and Jon Fant (12). In VMI's season opener at Manhattan last weekend, the Jaspers opened a 5-0 lead after one quarter, but the Keydets responded by scoring three goals in the second quarter and five in the fourth to pull within 10-8 at the final horn. Perouty led the offense with two goals and two assists while Josh Bass and John Daniel each scored twice. Despite falling, VMI held a 39-26 edge in shots.
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Lehigh leads the all-time series with VMI, 12-5, which includes nine straight victories. Lehigh's last loss to the Keydets came on Mar. 11, 1995 at VMI, a 15-12 defeat. Since, Lehigh has responded with wins every year from 1996 through 2001 then 2003, 2012 and 2013. The Mountain Hawks faced VMI in each of their Patriot League Title seasons, winning at VMI in 2012 (6-2) and at home in 2013 (18-2). Overall, the Mountain Hawks are 11-1 over their last 12 vs. VMI. Lehigh's last home loss in the series came in 1992 (11-10). Lehigh and VMI first met in 1988, a 14-9 Keydets' victory.
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Following Thursday's game, the Mountain Hawks return to action in less than 48 hours when they travel to NJIT on Saturday to face the Highlanders. Gametime is set for 12 p.m.
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Like Lehigh men's lacrosse on Facebook, follow on Twitter and Instagram for continued updates on the Mountain Hawks.        Â
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Players Mentioned
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