Saturday, May 15
Charlottesville, Va.
2:30 p.m.
Lehigh University
vs
Rutgers
Photo by: Hannahally Photography
No. 8 Mountain Hawks Set to Clash with No. 9 Rutgers in NCAA Tournament First Round
5/13/2021 11:44:00 AM | Men's Lacrosse
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – The No. 8 ranked (and seeded) Lehigh men's lacrosse team will look to regroup from the disappointment of Sunday's cancellation of the Patriot League Championship Game and leave it all on the field on Saturday when the Mountain Hawks face ninth-ranked and unseeded Rutgers in the First Round of the NCAA Tournament. Gametime at UVA's Klöckner Stadium is set for 2:30 p.m. on ESPNU. This marks Lehigh's third trip to the NCAA Tournament in the last nine seasons and first since 2013.
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Lehigh is seeded for the second time in three NCAA appearances, along with a No. 7 seed in 2012 in which the Mountain Hawks dropped a 10-9 heartbreaker to eventual national finalist Maryland behind a goal with six seconds remaining. Lehigh was unseeded in 2013 and played at fifth-seeded North Carolina. Those marked the program's first two NCAA Tournament appearances in program history. The Mountain Hawks will be searching for their first-ever NCAA Tournament win on Saturday.
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The Mountain Hawks enter the tournament with a 10-1 record (good for the nation's second best winning percentage, only behind Maryland) and winners of 14 of their last 15 games dating back to last season. Lehigh held the nation's longest active win streak (13 games) before its loss at No. 16 Villanova on May 1. Last weekend, Lehigh defeated Colgate in the Patriot League Semifinals, 13-9, before Sunday's title game was cancelled due to a positive COVID-19 test among Loyola's tier 1 testing pool. The no-contest meant the Mountain Hawks earned the league's automatic qualifier to the NCAA Tournament, while preventing Lehigh from playing for its first Patriot League Tournament Championship since 2013.
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In Friday's semifinals, sophomore and first team All-Patriot League midfielder John Sidorski paced the offense with three goals (for his first-career hat trick) and three assists for a career-high tying six points. Junior Mike Sisselberger won 18-of-25 faceoffs last Friday (in what statistically was one of his "worst" performances of the season) to reach 210 faceoff wins this season - needing just five more to move into second place in program history for career faceoff victories. He's also up to 149 groundballs in 2021, needing just four to break teammate Conor Gaffney's program and Patriot League record. Sisselberger's 79.5 percentage for the season would be an NCAA record if the season ended today (the record is currently 79.1 by Albany's TD Ierlan in 2018).
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Lehigh will shift its focus to Rutgers on Saturday, which will see junior Cole Kirst face his brothers Colin and Connor on the Scarlet Knights. Cole was named a second team All-Patriot League honoree while Colin and Connor were both named first team All-Big Ten. Colin was a four-year team member of the Mountain Hawks before transferring to Rutgers for his fifth year, and he's thrived, also being named Big Ten Specialist of the Year behind a 54.9 save percentage. The Mountain Hawks and Scarlet Knights last played in 2019 (when Colin was on Lehigh), as a Tommy Schelling go-ahead goal with 2:19 remaining helped Lehigh to a 13-10 win on the road. The year prior, Rutgers pulled out a slim 8-7 final in Bethlehem.
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Overall, the Scarlet Knights lead the all-time series, 39-10-1. Lehigh and Rutgers also met in 2018, a tight 8-7 Scarlet Knights' victory. It was only the third meeting between the two schools since 1971. Prior to 2018, the teams hadn't played since Apr. 11, 1990, a 21-6 Rutgers win. Lehigh's last win was in 1961, an 8-7 final. The first-ever game between the sides came in 1887, a 12-0 Lehigh win. It came in Lehigh Lacrosse's third season; it was the program's fifth-ever game and first shutout.
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Rutgers began its season with wins over then No. 6 ranked teams - Penn State (11-9) and Ohio State (22-12). The Scarlet Knights finished the regular season against their Big Ten only schedule 8-2, with the only losses coming to undefeated Maryland. Rutgers dropped its Big Ten Semifinal to Johns Hopkins, 12-10. Connor Kirst is second on the team in goals (32) and points (47) out of the midfield. Adam Charalambides leads Rutgers in goals (37) and points (53) while Kieran Mullins has recorded 25 goals and a team-leading 20 assists for 45 points. Saturday features the No. 4 and 5 scoring offenses in the nation with Lehigh at 14.91 goals per game and Rutgers at 14.82.
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If the Mountain Hawks win on Saturday, they would advance to the NCAA Quarterfinals next Saturday to face the winner of top-seeded North Carolina and Monmouth, in a game to be played at Hofstra University in Hempstead, N.Y.
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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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Lehigh is seeded for the second time in three NCAA appearances, along with a No. 7 seed in 2012 in which the Mountain Hawks dropped a 10-9 heartbreaker to eventual national finalist Maryland behind a goal with six seconds remaining. Lehigh was unseeded in 2013 and played at fifth-seeded North Carolina. Those marked the program's first two NCAA Tournament appearances in program history. The Mountain Hawks will be searching for their first-ever NCAA Tournament win on Saturday.
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The Mountain Hawks enter the tournament with a 10-1 record (good for the nation's second best winning percentage, only behind Maryland) and winners of 14 of their last 15 games dating back to last season. Lehigh held the nation's longest active win streak (13 games) before its loss at No. 16 Villanova on May 1. Last weekend, Lehigh defeated Colgate in the Patriot League Semifinals, 13-9, before Sunday's title game was cancelled due to a positive COVID-19 test among Loyola's tier 1 testing pool. The no-contest meant the Mountain Hawks earned the league's automatic qualifier to the NCAA Tournament, while preventing Lehigh from playing for its first Patriot League Tournament Championship since 2013.
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In Friday's semifinals, sophomore and first team All-Patriot League midfielder John Sidorski paced the offense with three goals (for his first-career hat trick) and three assists for a career-high tying six points. Junior Mike Sisselberger won 18-of-25 faceoffs last Friday (in what statistically was one of his "worst" performances of the season) to reach 210 faceoff wins this season - needing just five more to move into second place in program history for career faceoff victories. He's also up to 149 groundballs in 2021, needing just four to break teammate Conor Gaffney's program and Patriot League record. Sisselberger's 79.5 percentage for the season would be an NCAA record if the season ended today (the record is currently 79.1 by Albany's TD Ierlan in 2018).
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Lehigh will shift its focus to Rutgers on Saturday, which will see junior Cole Kirst face his brothers Colin and Connor on the Scarlet Knights. Cole was named a second team All-Patriot League honoree while Colin and Connor were both named first team All-Big Ten. Colin was a four-year team member of the Mountain Hawks before transferring to Rutgers for his fifth year, and he's thrived, also being named Big Ten Specialist of the Year behind a 54.9 save percentage. The Mountain Hawks and Scarlet Knights last played in 2019 (when Colin was on Lehigh), as a Tommy Schelling go-ahead goal with 2:19 remaining helped Lehigh to a 13-10 win on the road. The year prior, Rutgers pulled out a slim 8-7 final in Bethlehem.
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Overall, the Scarlet Knights lead the all-time series, 39-10-1. Lehigh and Rutgers also met in 2018, a tight 8-7 Scarlet Knights' victory. It was only the third meeting between the two schools since 1971. Prior to 2018, the teams hadn't played since Apr. 11, 1990, a 21-6 Rutgers win. Lehigh's last win was in 1961, an 8-7 final. The first-ever game between the sides came in 1887, a 12-0 Lehigh win. It came in Lehigh Lacrosse's third season; it was the program's fifth-ever game and first shutout.
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Rutgers began its season with wins over then No. 6 ranked teams - Penn State (11-9) and Ohio State (22-12). The Scarlet Knights finished the regular season against their Big Ten only schedule 8-2, with the only losses coming to undefeated Maryland. Rutgers dropped its Big Ten Semifinal to Johns Hopkins, 12-10. Connor Kirst is second on the team in goals (32) and points (47) out of the midfield. Adam Charalambides leads Rutgers in goals (37) and points (53) while Kieran Mullins has recorded 25 goals and a team-leading 20 assists for 45 points. Saturday features the No. 4 and 5 scoring offenses in the nation with Lehigh at 14.91 goals per game and Rutgers at 14.82.
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If the Mountain Hawks win on Saturday, they would advance to the NCAA Quarterfinals next Saturday to face the winner of top-seeded North Carolina and Monmouth, in a game to be played at Hofstra University in Hempstead, N.Y.
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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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