Saturday, March 19
West Point, N.Y.
12 p.m.
Lehigh University
at
Army West Point
Photo by: Hannahally Photography
Lehigh Travels to No. 9 Army Saturday for Matchup of 2-0 Patriot League Teams
3/18/2022 11:00:00 AM | Men's Lacrosse
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – The Lehigh men's lacrosse team is set for one of its biggest tests to date when the Mountain Hawks travel to No. 9 Army West Point on Saturday for a battle of 2-0 teams in the Patriot League. Gametime is set for 12 p.m. on ESPN+. Lehigh is coming off consecutive league victories at home, 11-7 vs. Navy and 17-7 against Holy Cross.
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Saturday will be a rematch of the 2019 Patriot League Championship Game. It's also the first Lehigh-Army game in West Point since March of 2018. Since, there have been two meetings in Bethlehem and the 2019 title game matchup at Loyola. The teams didn't play in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Following a 1-2 February, the Mountain Hawks have begun to hit their stride. After trailing Navy 5-2, Lehigh has outscored its opponents 26-9 - outscoring the Mids 9-2 the rest of the way before beating Holy Cross, 17-7. Lehigh's defense held Holy Cross to one goal or fewer in the first, third and fourth quarters. Offensively, the Mountain Hawks posted a season-high goal total, led by five goals and an assist from junior Christian Mule', along with one goal and a career-high six assists from senior Tommy Schelling. Sophomore Quinn Armstrong scored three times for his third-career hat trick, while senior Matt Marker and junior Andrew Mapstone each scored a career-high two goals.
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As a team, Lehigh collected a season-high 55 groundballs, which was also its most since posting 56 on Apr. 10, 2019 against Robert Morris. Senior Mike Sisselberger won 20-of-26 faceoffs (including 11-of-12 in the second quarter and 5-of-6 in the third), while collecting nine groundballs to move to 228 in his career - now good for fifth in program history (passing Craig Chick). Graduate student Teddy Leggett recorded six groundballs to move into a tie for sixth (with Chick), owning 224 career GBs. Leggett also posted a career-high five caused turnovers to move into a tie for third in program history (with Eddie Bouhall) for career caused turnovers (73). As a team, the Mountain Hawks held Holy Cross scoreless for the game's first 16:39 then later for 14:39 bridging the second and third quarters, and for the game's final 13:55.
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Lehigh and Army is always a special matchup for the respective teams' head coaches as Black Knights' head coach Joe Alberici was an assistant coach at Duke when Mountain Hawks' head man Kevin Cassese was an All-American player.
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Standing No. 9 in the Inside Lacrosse Media Poll, No. 10 in the USILA Coaches Poll and No. 11 in the USA Lacrosse Rankings, Army stands 6-1 on the season and 2-0 in the Patriot League. The Black Knights' lone loss came at No. 6 Rutgers in the second game of the season, 13-10. Army also has a win over Syracuse, while beating Holy Cross (14-8) and Lafayette (18-12) to open Patriot League play. The Black Knights feature the No. 7 scoring offense in the nation (15.86 goals per game) and No. 19 defense (10.43). They're led by Brendan Nichtern, who is first in the Patriot League and third in the country in points per game (6.57) with 46 in seven contests. He's also among the national leaders in goals (19) and assists (27). Reese Burek is second on the team in points (22 via 10 goals and 12 assists). Bobby Abshire and Paul Johnson are both tied for third with 18 points apiece behind 13 goals and five assists). Will Coletti leads Army in groundballs (32) while winning 72-of-129 faceoffs (55.8 percent). Veteran Wyatt Schupler mans the goal, tallying a 10.65 goals against average and 57.8 save percentage.
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Army leads the all-time series with Lehigh, 26-10, but eight of those victories have come in Cassese's 15 seasons at Lehigh. Since 2009, the teams have split the 16 meetings. Lehigh won four-of-five between 2012 and 2014 before the Black Knights responded with five in a row from 2015 to 2017. The Mountain Hawks have won three of the last four (all by three goals or fewer). Last season's matchup featured a pair of top 10 ranked teams, as the Mountain Hawks picked up a 13-12 win at home. Only one of the last five meetings have come at Army, a 9-7 Lehigh win on Mar. 10, 2018. The teams didn't play in 2020, as it was the next game on the schedule when the COVID-19 pandemic cancelled the season. Army won the first-ever meeting in 1922 by a 4-1 final before the sides reconvened in 1990, a 15-11 Army victory. Lehigh's first win was in 1999 by a 13-9 final.
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After Saturday's game, the Mountain Hawks return home next Saturday (Mar. 26) for a big nonleague showdown vs. No. 5 Georgetown at 1 p.m. on ESPN+.
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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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Saturday will be a rematch of the 2019 Patriot League Championship Game. It's also the first Lehigh-Army game in West Point since March of 2018. Since, there have been two meetings in Bethlehem and the 2019 title game matchup at Loyola. The teams didn't play in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Following a 1-2 February, the Mountain Hawks have begun to hit their stride. After trailing Navy 5-2, Lehigh has outscored its opponents 26-9 - outscoring the Mids 9-2 the rest of the way before beating Holy Cross, 17-7. Lehigh's defense held Holy Cross to one goal or fewer in the first, third and fourth quarters. Offensively, the Mountain Hawks posted a season-high goal total, led by five goals and an assist from junior Christian Mule', along with one goal and a career-high six assists from senior Tommy Schelling. Sophomore Quinn Armstrong scored three times for his third-career hat trick, while senior Matt Marker and junior Andrew Mapstone each scored a career-high two goals.
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As a team, Lehigh collected a season-high 55 groundballs, which was also its most since posting 56 on Apr. 10, 2019 against Robert Morris. Senior Mike Sisselberger won 20-of-26 faceoffs (including 11-of-12 in the second quarter and 5-of-6 in the third), while collecting nine groundballs to move to 228 in his career - now good for fifth in program history (passing Craig Chick). Graduate student Teddy Leggett recorded six groundballs to move into a tie for sixth (with Chick), owning 224 career GBs. Leggett also posted a career-high five caused turnovers to move into a tie for third in program history (with Eddie Bouhall) for career caused turnovers (73). As a team, the Mountain Hawks held Holy Cross scoreless for the game's first 16:39 then later for 14:39 bridging the second and third quarters, and for the game's final 13:55.
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Lehigh and Army is always a special matchup for the respective teams' head coaches as Black Knights' head coach Joe Alberici was an assistant coach at Duke when Mountain Hawks' head man Kevin Cassese was an All-American player.
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Standing No. 9 in the Inside Lacrosse Media Poll, No. 10 in the USILA Coaches Poll and No. 11 in the USA Lacrosse Rankings, Army stands 6-1 on the season and 2-0 in the Patriot League. The Black Knights' lone loss came at No. 6 Rutgers in the second game of the season, 13-10. Army also has a win over Syracuse, while beating Holy Cross (14-8) and Lafayette (18-12) to open Patriot League play. The Black Knights feature the No. 7 scoring offense in the nation (15.86 goals per game) and No. 19 defense (10.43). They're led by Brendan Nichtern, who is first in the Patriot League and third in the country in points per game (6.57) with 46 in seven contests. He's also among the national leaders in goals (19) and assists (27). Reese Burek is second on the team in points (22 via 10 goals and 12 assists). Bobby Abshire and Paul Johnson are both tied for third with 18 points apiece behind 13 goals and five assists). Will Coletti leads Army in groundballs (32) while winning 72-of-129 faceoffs (55.8 percent). Veteran Wyatt Schupler mans the goal, tallying a 10.65 goals against average and 57.8 save percentage.
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Army leads the all-time series with Lehigh, 26-10, but eight of those victories have come in Cassese's 15 seasons at Lehigh. Since 2009, the teams have split the 16 meetings. Lehigh won four-of-five between 2012 and 2014 before the Black Knights responded with five in a row from 2015 to 2017. The Mountain Hawks have won three of the last four (all by three goals or fewer). Last season's matchup featured a pair of top 10 ranked teams, as the Mountain Hawks picked up a 13-12 win at home. Only one of the last five meetings have come at Army, a 9-7 Lehigh win on Mar. 10, 2018. The teams didn't play in 2020, as it was the next game on the schedule when the COVID-19 pandemic cancelled the season. Army won the first-ever meeting in 1922 by a 4-1 final before the sides reconvened in 1990, a 15-11 Army victory. Lehigh's first win was in 1999 by a 13-9 final.
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After Saturday's game, the Mountain Hawks return home next Saturday (Mar. 26) for a big nonleague showdown vs. No. 5 Georgetown at 1 p.m. on ESPN+.
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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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