Sunday, March 14
Lewisburg, Pa.
12 p.m.
Lehigh University
3-0, 2-0PL
18
at
6
Bucknell
1-1, 0-1PL
1
2
3
4
F
Lehigh
4
6
4
4
18
Bucknell
0
2
2
2
6
Photo by: Matt Smith
No. 11 Mountain Hawks Dominate in 18-6 Win at Bucknell
3/14/2021 4:10:00 PM | Men's Lacrosse
LEWISBURG, Pa. – The No. 11 Lehigh men's lacrosse team continued its impressive start to the season, jumping out to a 4-0 lead after a quarter of play and never looking back, beating Bucknell 18-6 on Sunday afternoon. The win marked the Mountain Hawks' largest margin of victory against the Bison in program history. Lehigh impressed in all phases of the game, improving to 3-0 on the season (2-0 in Patriot League play).
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"The thing I was most proud about was the guys being ready to play and getting out to a fast start," said Lehigh head coach Kevin Cassese. "We had an early morning. Obviously, we lost an hour due to daylight savings time, getting on the bus at 7:30 this morning. It would have been very easy to have a slow start. We got off on the right foot and I thought that was a big key for us today."
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Senior Kevin Gersbeck led the offense, recording career highs in goals (4) and points (5).
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"Kevin had an awesome game," said Cassese. "He was spectacular. We needed some midfielders to step up and he did. He had some timely goals and made plays between the lines as well."
Junior Tommy Schelling recorded five more points via a goal and four assists while sophomore John Sidorski had a goal and three assists. Junior Cole Kirst posted his first-career hat trick, while dishing an assist. Sophomore Justin Tiernan scored twice to tie a career high.
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Defensively, sophomore Anthony Tangredi tallied two groundballs and three caused turnovers while seniors Teddy Leggett and James Spence caused two turnovers apiece.
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"The defense as a whole played really well again," said Cassese. "It was the second week in a row where they held a team to six. That speaks to the whole unit. They're really starting to gel, and James is also playing at a very high level right now. He was spectacular today and last week as well. Coach Scud and Coach Nesdale are doing a great job coaching those guys up and the guys are taking everything to heart, going out and playing well for them."
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Spence finished with 15 saves on 21 shots, stopping 32-of-44 shots sent his way over the last two games. Junior Mike Sisselberger continued his strong play, winning 16-of-23 faceoffs with a career-high 12 groundballs, while also scoring a goal in his third consecutive contest.
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The Mountain Hawks' 4-0 first quarter saw goals from Gersbeck, Christian Mule', Tiernan, and Schelling. Bucknell scored two of the first three second-quarter goals, but Lehigh ended the half on a 5-0 run, extending to 7-0 early in the third quarter, to take a dominant 12-2 advantage.
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The Bison had one three-goal run bridging the third and fourth quarters, but the Mountain Hawks scored the game's final four goals to wrap up the 18-6 final.
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Lehigh finished with a 50-38 edge in shots and 52-20 advantage in groundballs.
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"The guys have been doing a great job; they're 100 percent bought in," said Cassese. "They're handling the COVID situation well right now and we have to make sure that continues. They've been doing their part so we've had a full roster to play with and a full roster at practice as well. That's indicative of being focused and dialed in. I'm proud of that.
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"Today, I thought we did it in a lot of different ways," Cassese continued. "At times, our offense in the half field was a little stagnant and we failed to hit our shots. That was a little bit us, and a little bit them. We got our transition game going a bit, scoring in the clear against their 10-man ride which is difficult to go against. When you can score in a bunch of ways, that helps your offense."
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Like Lehigh men's lacrosse on Facebook, follow on Twitter and Instagram for continued updates on the Mountain Hawks.
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"The thing I was most proud about was the guys being ready to play and getting out to a fast start," said Lehigh head coach Kevin Cassese. "We had an early morning. Obviously, we lost an hour due to daylight savings time, getting on the bus at 7:30 this morning. It would have been very easy to have a slow start. We got off on the right foot and I thought that was a big key for us today."
Â
Senior Kevin Gersbeck led the offense, recording career highs in goals (4) and points (5).
Â
"Kevin had an awesome game," said Cassese. "He was spectacular. We needed some midfielders to step up and he did. He had some timely goals and made plays between the lines as well."
ÂWe experienced some network issues on the ESPN+ domestic feed of @LehighLacrosse's, and we apologize to everyone who missed the game. ... Here's a jam-packed, longer-than-usual highlight recap for those who didn't get to watch the game. @NCAALAX | @PatriotLeague pic.twitter.com/obvkE6saHA
— Patriot League on ESPN (@PatriotLeagueTV) March 14, 2021
Junior Tommy Schelling recorded five more points via a goal and four assists while sophomore John Sidorski had a goal and three assists. Junior Cole Kirst posted his first-career hat trick, while dishing an assist. Sophomore Justin Tiernan scored twice to tie a career high.
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Defensively, sophomore Anthony Tangredi tallied two groundballs and three caused turnovers while seniors Teddy Leggett and James Spence caused two turnovers apiece.
Â
"The defense as a whole played really well again," said Cassese. "It was the second week in a row where they held a team to six. That speaks to the whole unit. They're really starting to gel, and James is also playing at a very high level right now. He was spectacular today and last week as well. Coach Scud and Coach Nesdale are doing a great job coaching those guys up and the guys are taking everything to heart, going out and playing well for them."
Â
Spence finished with 15 saves on 21 shots, stopping 32-of-44 shots sent his way over the last two games. Junior Mike Sisselberger continued his strong play, winning 16-of-23 faceoffs with a career-high 12 groundballs, while also scoring a goal in his third consecutive contest.
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The Mountain Hawks' 4-0 first quarter saw goals from Gersbeck, Christian Mule', Tiernan, and Schelling. Bucknell scored two of the first three second-quarter goals, but Lehigh ended the half on a 5-0 run, extending to 7-0 early in the third quarter, to take a dominant 12-2 advantage.
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The Bison had one three-goal run bridging the third and fourth quarters, but the Mountain Hawks scored the game's final four goals to wrap up the 18-6 final.
Â
Lehigh finished with a 50-38 edge in shots and 52-20 advantage in groundballs.
Â
"The guys have been doing a great job; they're 100 percent bought in," said Cassese. "They're handling the COVID situation well right now and we have to make sure that continues. They've been doing their part so we've had a full roster to play with and a full roster at practice as well. That's indicative of being focused and dialed in. I'm proud of that.
Â
"Today, I thought we did it in a lot of different ways," Cassese continued. "At times, our offense in the half field was a little stagnant and we failed to hit our shots. That was a little bit us, and a little bit them. We got our transition game going a bit, scoring in the clear against their 10-man ride which is difficult to go against. When you can score in a bunch of ways, that helps your offense."
Â
Like Lehigh men's lacrosse on Facebook, follow on Twitter and Instagram for continued updates on the Mountain Hawks.
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Team Stats
LEHIGH
BUCKNELL
Shots
50
38
Turnovers
16
15
Caused Turnovers
12
7
Faceoffs Won
19
10
Extra-Man Opps
6
4
Ground Balls
52
20
Game Leaders
Players
G
4
A
1
FO
-
Pen
-
GB
0
CT
0
G
3
A
1
FO
-
Pen
-
GB
2
CT
0
G
2
A
0
FO
-
Pen
-
GB
0
CT
0
G
1
A
1
FO
-
Pen
-
GB
2
CT
0
Players Mentioned
M
/ Men's LacrosseA
/ Men's Lacrosse
LSM/D
/ Men's LacrosseA
/ Men's Lacrosse
A
/ Men's Lacrosse
A/M
/ Men's Lacrosse
FO/M
/ Men's Lacrosse
G
/ Men's Lacrosse
D
/ Men's LacrosseA
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