Saturday, February 12
Newark, N.J.
11:30 a.m.
Lehigh University
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NJIT
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Lehigh
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Photo by: Matt Kipp
No. 14 Lehigh Wins Season Opener at NJIT, 10-5
2/12/2022 6:06:00 PM | Men's Lacrosse
NEWARK, N.J. – NJIT scored first, but the No. 14 Lehigh men's lacrosse team responded with seven of the next eight goals to erase any doubt, as the Mountain Hawks picked up a 10-5 season-opening win on Saturday. Junior Christian Mule' scored a game-high four goals while sophomore Quinn Armstrong scored three for his second-career hat trick (both coming against the Highlanders).
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"First, I'd like to give a lot of credit to NJIT," said Lehigh head coach Kevin Cassese. "I thought they played a really good game today. They were really clean overall. I thought they improved a lot from game one to game two.
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"For us in game one, we definitely showed a little bit of jitters, especially on the offensive end early in the game, but I thought we settled in," Cassese continued. "The defense had a really great game today. James was great in net and the defense played well in front of him. Mikey Sisselberger was excellent between the lines. Our wings did a good job. We definitely had the possession tilted in our favor."
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Seniors Tommy Schelling and Matt Marker, and sophomore Scott Cole scored the Mountain Hawks' other goals. Schelling added three assists for four points. After losing his first faceoff, Sisselberger won 13 of his next 14 to finish 14-of-16 with 11 groundballs. Senior close defenseman Michael Gomez had four groundballs and a caused turnover in his first career start.
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After NJIT took a 1-0 lead 38 seconds in, Cole scored Lehigh's first goal of the season – from Schelling at the 10:04 mark. Mule' followed with the Mountain Hawks' next three goals, only interrupted by one Highlanders' tally. A Marker man-up goal with two seconds left in the second quarter put Lehigh ahead 5-2, a lead that extended to 7-2 early in the third after scores from Armstrong and Mule'.
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Lehigh finished with a 56-29 edge in shots and 36-13 advantage in groundballs. Graduate student James Spence was stellar in goal, making 12 saves, across NJIT's Liam Brown, who had 20.
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"I give a lot of credit to their goalie, who was excellent today," said Cassese. "One thing we'll need to work on this week is going to be shooting. We had a ton of shots. When you generate that many shots, you want to put up more points on the board than we did today. That will definitely be a point of emphasis.
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The Mountain Hawks remain on the road next Saturday when they travel to Hobart for a 12 p.m. opening faceoff.
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"It's good to win… proud of the effort," said Cassese. "Our mission was to come out and be 1-0 and we were able to accomplish our mission. We're happy with that, but we're not content. We're going to keep getting better and we look forward to the next mission next week."
Like Lehigh men's lacrosse on Facebook, follow on Twitter and Instagram for continued updates on the Mountain Hawks.
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"First, I'd like to give a lot of credit to NJIT," said Lehigh head coach Kevin Cassese. "I thought they played a really good game today. They were really clean overall. I thought they improved a lot from game one to game two.
Â
"For us in game one, we definitely showed a little bit of jitters, especially on the offensive end early in the game, but I thought we settled in," Cassese continued. "The defense had a really great game today. James was great in net and the defense played well in front of him. Mikey Sisselberger was excellent between the lines. Our wings did a good job. We definitely had the possession tilted in our favor."
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Seniors Tommy Schelling and Matt Marker, and sophomore Scott Cole scored the Mountain Hawks' other goals. Schelling added three assists for four points. After losing his first faceoff, Sisselberger won 13 of his next 14 to finish 14-of-16 with 11 groundballs. Senior close defenseman Michael Gomez had four groundballs and a caused turnover in his first career start.
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After NJIT took a 1-0 lead 38 seconds in, Cole scored Lehigh's first goal of the season – from Schelling at the 10:04 mark. Mule' followed with the Mountain Hawks' next three goals, only interrupted by one Highlanders' tally. A Marker man-up goal with two seconds left in the second quarter put Lehigh ahead 5-2, a lead that extended to 7-2 early in the third after scores from Armstrong and Mule'.
Scott Cole with our first goal of the season to pull even at one early in this one.
— Lehigh Lacrosse (@LehighLacrosse) February 12, 2022
Watch: https://t.co/2yjNYhQSoo pic.twitter.com/NEJfkCeFaO
Armstrong added his second and third of the game early in the fourth to put the Mountain Hawks ahead 10-3, erasing any doubt on the way to the 10-5 final.This goal by Christian Mule' 😱#SCTop10 #PLTop3 pic.twitter.com/s52oICsear
— Lehigh Lacrosse (@LehighLacrosse) February 12, 2022
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Lehigh finished with a 56-29 edge in shots and 36-13 advantage in groundballs. Graduate student James Spence was stellar in goal, making 12 saves, across NJIT's Liam Brown, who had 20.
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"I give a lot of credit to their goalie, who was excellent today," said Cassese. "One thing we'll need to work on this week is going to be shooting. We had a ton of shots. When you generate that many shots, you want to put up more points on the board than we did today. That will definitely be a point of emphasis.
Â
The Mountain Hawks remain on the road next Saturday when they travel to Hobart for a 12 p.m. opening faceoff.
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"It's good to win… proud of the effort," said Cassese. "Our mission was to come out and be 1-0 and we were able to accomplish our mission. We're happy with that, but we're not content. We're going to keep getting better and we look forward to the next mission next week."
Like Lehigh men's lacrosse on Facebook, follow on Twitter and Instagram for continued updates on the Mountain Hawks.
ÂPostgame reaction from James Spence, Mike Sisselberger and @CoachCassese following today's 10-5 season-opening win at NJIT.@Inside_Lacrosse | @USALacrosseMag pic.twitter.com/16gikSwmdb
— Lehigh Lacrosse (@LehighLacrosse) February 12, 2022
Team Stats
LEHIGH
NJIT
Shots
56
29
Turnovers
13
15
Caused Turnovers
5
5
Faceoffs Won
15
3
Extra-Man Opps
6
3
Ground Balls
36
13
Game Leaders
Players
G
4
A
0
FO
-
Pen
-
GB
4
CT
1
G
3
A
0
FO
-
Pen
1-30
GB
3
CT
1
G
1
A
1
FO
-
Pen
-
GB
0
CT
0
G
1
A
1
FO
-
Pen
1-30
GB
0
CT
0
Players Mentioned
A/M
/ Men's LacrosseA/M
/ Men's Lacrosse
D
/ Men's LacrosseA
/ Men's LacrosseA
/ Men's Lacrosse
A
/ Men's Lacrosse
FO/M
/ Men's Lacrosse
G
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