Saturday, February 22
Newark, N.J.
12 p.m.
Lehigh University
3-1
17
at
8
NJIT
1-4
1
2
3
4
F
Lehigh
0
5
7
5
17
NJIT
1
2
0
5
8
No. 18 Mountain Hawks roll past NJIT, 17-8
2/22/2020 6:12:00 PM | Men's Lacrosse
NEWARK, N.J. – After being held scoreless in the first quarter, the 18th ranked Lehigh men's lacrosse team exploded for 17 goals over the game's final 41:37 to down NJIT, 17-8 on Saturday afternoon. Freshman attackman Christian Mule' led the offense with a career-high five goals while senior Ryan Klose scored a career-high four goals out of the midfield. One game after tying a program-record eight goals, senior Andrew Pettit was a distributor. The fifth-year senior finished with a goal and four assists. Now 3-1 following two wins in three days, the Mountain Hawks return home next Saturday to host Navy in the Patriot League opener for both sides.
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"I'll be honest, I thought we learned a lot over the last three days," said Lehigh head coach Kevin Cassese. "I thought we had a better start today than we did on Thursday night, but their goalie was excellent. He made a lot of saves on us. Our offense was clicking and we were doing the right things for the majority of the early part of this game. I'm proud of the way that the guys just continued to grind and get after it. Obviously, we were able to get some separation heading into the second quarter and again in the third."
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Lehigh's leading scorer, Tommy Schelling, was held point-less in the first half, but still finished with three goals and an assist for his third hat trick in four games. In the process, the sophomore eclipsed 50 career points and now has 23 points in four games in 2020. The trio of Mule', Klose and Schelling scored 12 of the Mountain Hawks' 17 goals. Freshman John Sidorski netted his first two career goals as well.
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"The attack right now is doing a great job of taking what the defense is giving them," said Cassese. "Our midfielders did a much better job today than they have in the last couple games of putting some pressure on the defense, creating some opportunities for the attack and then the attack making the most of those opportunities."
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Junior Teddy Leggett and freshman Jack Spence led the defense with two caused turnovers apiece. As a team, the Mountain Hawks were dominant in the faceoff circle, winning 24-of-29 faceoffs. Senior Conor Gaffney led the way, winning 13-of-14 with 10 groundballs. Sophomore Mike Sisselberger was 10-of-14 with seven GBs.
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NJIT goalkeeper Liam Brown was a big story for the game, especially in the first quarter when he stopped all six shots sent his way – including several of the spectacular variety – to keep the Mountain Hawks scoreless. The Highlanders scored the quarter's only goal to take a 1-0 lead into the second.
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Mule' took over in the second quarter, scoring Lehigh's first two goals and netting three in the quarter. The scoring concluded with 2:52 on the clock as Klose scored his first of the afternoon to give the Mountain Hawks a 5-3 halftime advantage.
Lehigh quickly erased much doubt in the second half, scoring seven goals in the first 9:28 of the third quarter to take a 12-3 lead. Klose, Schelling and Mule' each scored twice in the 7-0 run, with sophomore long pole Anthony Tangredi scoring the other on a transition opportunity. It marked the sophomore's first-career goal.
NJIT opened the fourth quarter with a pair of man-up goals in the first 1:10, but Lehigh responded with four straight and five of the next six to take a 17-6 lead. In that run was sophomore Matt Marker's first-career goal. The Highlanders scored the final two goals of the game, but it was too little, too late.
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The Mountain Hawks finished with a 53-28 edge in shots and 37-15 advantage in groundballs. Sophomore James Spence made seven saves in goal before being replaced by freshman Caleb Creasor in the fourth, who made the first save of his career. Brown finished with 21 stops for NJIT.
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The Mountain Hawks return home next Saturday to host Navy in the Patriot League opener. Gametime is set for 3 p.m. as the second game of a Lehigh Lacrosse doubleheader with the women's squad.
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Like Lehigh men's lacrosse on Facebook, follow on Twitter and Instagram for continued updates on the Mountain Hawks.
ÂGallery: (2/22/2020) Men's Lacrosse at NJIT, 2/22/20
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"I'll be honest, I thought we learned a lot over the last three days," said Lehigh head coach Kevin Cassese. "I thought we had a better start today than we did on Thursday night, but their goalie was excellent. He made a lot of saves on us. Our offense was clicking and we were doing the right things for the majority of the early part of this game. I'm proud of the way that the guys just continued to grind and get after it. Obviously, we were able to get some separation heading into the second quarter and again in the third."
Â
Lehigh's leading scorer, Tommy Schelling, was held point-less in the first half, but still finished with three goals and an assist for his third hat trick in four games. In the process, the sophomore eclipsed 50 career points and now has 23 points in four games in 2020. The trio of Mule', Klose and Schelling scored 12 of the Mountain Hawks' 17 goals. Freshman John Sidorski netted his first two career goals as well.
Â
"The attack right now is doing a great job of taking what the defense is giving them," said Cassese. "Our midfielders did a much better job today than they have in the last couple games of putting some pressure on the defense, creating some opportunities for the attack and then the attack making the most of those opportunities."
Â
Junior Teddy Leggett and freshman Jack Spence led the defense with two caused turnovers apiece. As a team, the Mountain Hawks were dominant in the faceoff circle, winning 24-of-29 faceoffs. Senior Conor Gaffney led the way, winning 13-of-14 with 10 groundballs. Sophomore Mike Sisselberger was 10-of-14 with seven GBs.
Â
NJIT goalkeeper Liam Brown was a big story for the game, especially in the first quarter when he stopped all six shots sent his way – including several of the spectacular variety – to keep the Mountain Hawks scoreless. The Highlanders scored the quarter's only goal to take a 1-0 lead into the second.
Â
Mule' took over in the second quarter, scoring Lehigh's first two goals and netting three in the quarter. The scoring concluded with 2:52 on the clock as Klose scored his first of the afternoon to give the Mountain Hawks a 5-3 halftime advantage.
ÂThis Ryan Klose goal gave Lehigh five goals as the Mountain Hawks lead NJIT 5-3 at the half. pic.twitter.com/Wf1vn2LREN
— Lehigh Lacrosse (@LehighLacrosse) February 22, 2020
Lehigh quickly erased much doubt in the second half, scoring seven goals in the first 9:28 of the third quarter to take a 12-3 lead. Klose, Schelling and Mule' each scored twice in the 7-0 run, with sophomore long pole Anthony Tangredi scoring the other on a transition opportunity. It marked the sophomore's first-career goal.
ÂWho doesn't love a pole goal?! Check out Anthony Tangredi's first-career goal this afternoon. The Mountain Hawks were PUMPED. pic.twitter.com/36SlBCYkaM
— Lehigh Lacrosse (@LehighLacrosse) February 23, 2020
NJIT opened the fourth quarter with a pair of man-up goals in the first 1:10, but Lehigh responded with four straight and five of the next six to take a 17-6 lead. In that run was sophomore Matt Marker's first-career goal. The Highlanders scored the final two goals of the game, but it was too little, too late.
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The Mountain Hawks finished with a 53-28 edge in shots and 37-15 advantage in groundballs. Sophomore James Spence made seven saves in goal before being replaced by freshman Caleb Creasor in the fourth, who made the first save of his career. Brown finished with 21 stops for NJIT.
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The Mountain Hawks return home next Saturday to host Navy in the Patriot League opener. Gametime is set for 3 p.m. as the second game of a Lehigh Lacrosse doubleheader with the women's squad.
Â
Like Lehigh men's lacrosse on Facebook, follow on Twitter and Instagram for continued updates on the Mountain Hawks.
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.@CoachCassese following today's win at NJIT. pic.twitter.com/EiBGk3lwVq
— Lehigh Lacrosse (@LehighLacrosse) February 22, 2020
ÂWe caught up with @chrislax34 following today's 17-8 win! pic.twitter.com/2dLhIyeKt1
— Lehigh Lacrosse (@LehighLacrosse) February 22, 2020
Team Stats
LEHIGH
NJIT
Shots
53
28
Turnovers
12
16
Caused Turnovers
8
5
Faceoffs Won
24
5
Extra-Man Opps
2
4
Ground Balls
37
15
Game Leaders
Players
G
5
A
0
FO
-
Pen
-
GB
3
CT
0
G
4
A
0
FO
-
Pen
-
GB
1
CT
0
G
3
A
1
FO
-
Pen
-
GB
1
CT
0
G
2
A
1
FO
-
Pen
-
GB
0
CT
1
Players Mentioned
G
/ Men's Lacrosse
M/FO
/ Men's LacrosseM
/ Men's Lacrosse
LSM/D
/ Men's Lacrosse
A
/ Men's LacrosseA
/ Men's Lacrosse
A
/ Men's LacrosseA
/ Men's LacrosseA/M
/ Men's Lacrosse
FO/M
/ Men's Lacrosse
M
/ Men's Lacrosse
G
/ Men's Lacrosse
D
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