Sunday, April 10
Bethlehem, Pa.
1 p.m.
Lehigh University
7-3, 5-0PL
13
vs
12
Bucknell
7-4, 1-4PL
1
2
3
4
F
Bucknell
4
0
5
3
12
Lehigh
4
4
4
1
13
Photo by: Justin Lafleur
No. 19 Lehigh Improves to 5-0 in the Patriot League Following 13-12 Win vs. Bucknell
4/10/2022 5:51:00 PM | Men's Lacrosse
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – The No. 19 Lehigh men's lacrosse team outscored Bucknell 4-0 in the second quarter to create separation, then survived a late Bison surge to win, 13-12, on Sunday afternoon at the Ulrich Sports Complex. With the win, the Mountain Hawks improved to 5-0 in league play (7-3 overall), and officially secured their 11th straight Patriot League Tournament berth in the process. Lehigh was led offensively by senior Tommy Schelling, who scored a season-high four goals and dished an assist.
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"Definitely happy to win," said Lehigh head coach Kevin Cassese. "It was a back-and-forth battle. Give Bucknell a lot of credit for fighting back and making a very close game of it in the end."
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Along with Schelling's five points, sophomore Scott Cole set a career high with five points behind three goals and two assists. Senior Cole Kirst and junior Christian Mule' each had two goals and an assist. Sophomore Quinn Armstrong tallied a goal and assist as well.
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Senior Mike Sisselberger was stellar against Bucknell's Nick Crovatto (who had won 53.1 percent of his faceoffs on the season coming in). Sisselberger finished 20-of-27 with a season-high 15 groundballs, including 11-of-13 in the second half and 15-of-18 over the final three quarters.
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A high-scoring first quarter saw eight combined goals, four apiece, including three over the final 3:23 of the stanza. Lehigh's goals came from Mule', senior Matt Marker, Cole and Schelling. Schelling's came with nine second on the clock to pull the Mountain Hawks even at four after 15 minutes of play.
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That goal propelled a 5-0 Lehigh run, as Schelling scored twice more in the second quarter, sandwiched between goals from Cole and Kirst, to give the Mountain Hawks an 8-4 halftime lead.
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Bucknell quickly had an answer goal, scoring at the 5:19, 4:41 and 3:41 marks to cut its deficit in half. A Cole goal less than a minute later briefly gave Lehigh the momentum back, but the Bison scored a transition goal with six seconds left in the third, and the first goal of the fourth, to pull within 12-10 with 11:56 left in regulation.
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Kirst scored his second at the 8:46 mark, but the Bison had one last surge. Dutch Furlong netted his second and third of the afternoon at 2:06 and 0:42. The Bison won the ensuing faceoff and were on the extra man, but after a timeout, they were unable to get a shot off as sophomore Nick Turrini collected the groundball off a turnover to seal the Lehigh victory.
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"Offensively and defensively, the way I would characterize it is we made enough plays to win the game today," said Cassese. "We still need to be better in both areas for sure. We weren't clean enough in each of those areas and can be better, but today, in this game, we won a one-goal game. We made enough plays to win."
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The Mountain Hawks finished with a 44-42 advantage in shots and 43-35 edge in groundballs. Bucknell was 1-for-5 on the extra man while Lehigh was 2-for-3. Senior James Spence finished with 13 saves, including stopping all five sent his way in the second quarter and five-of-eight in the fourth. Spence is up to 613 career saves, passing Todd Schreiner for second in program history. He stands seventh in Patriot League history.
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"Overall, I was happy to win, but certainly not content with the way we played," said Cassese. "I think we need to be a lot better in just about every area. A lot cleaner. We turned the ball over way too much today (19 times, including nine times in the fourth). We have a lot to work on and we'll look to do that this week and get ready for Colgate."
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The Mountain Hawks will hit the road on Saturday to face Colgate at 4 p.m.
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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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"Definitely happy to win," said Lehigh head coach Kevin Cassese. "It was a back-and-forth battle. Give Bucknell a lot of credit for fighting back and making a very close game of it in the end."
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Along with Schelling's five points, sophomore Scott Cole set a career high with five points behind three goals and two assists. Senior Cole Kirst and junior Christian Mule' each had two goals and an assist. Sophomore Quinn Armstrong tallied a goal and assist as well.
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Leading the defense was graduate student Teddy Leggett, who collected six groundballs – his fourth straight game with six or more GBs. Seniors Michael Gomez and Anthony Tangredi each caused two turnovers apiece.
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Senior Mike Sisselberger was stellar against Bucknell's Nick Crovatto (who had won 53.1 percent of his faceoffs on the season coming in). Sisselberger finished 20-of-27 with a season-high 15 groundballs, including 11-of-13 in the second half and 15-of-18 over the final three quarters.
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A high-scoring first quarter saw eight combined goals, four apiece, including three over the final 3:23 of the stanza. Lehigh's goals came from Mule', senior Matt Marker, Cole and Schelling. Schelling's came with nine second on the clock to pull the Mountain Hawks even at four after 15 minutes of play.
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That goal propelled a 5-0 Lehigh run, as Schelling scored twice more in the second quarter, sandwiched between goals from Cole and Kirst, to give the Mountain Hawks an 8-4 halftime lead.
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The Bison opened the second-half scoring at 9:24 of the third, their first goal in 23:09. Lehigh responded with three goals in 1:59 – from Mule', Schelling and Armstrong (man-up) to give the Mountain Hawks their largest lead of 11-5 with 6:15 left in the third.
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Bucknell quickly had an answer goal, scoring at the 5:19, 4:41 and 3:41 marks to cut its deficit in half. A Cole goal less than a minute later briefly gave Lehigh the momentum back, but the Bison scored a transition goal with six seconds left in the third, and the first goal of the fourth, to pull within 12-10 with 11:56 left in regulation.
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Kirst scored his second at the 8:46 mark, but the Bison had one last surge. Dutch Furlong netted his second and third of the afternoon at 2:06 and 0:42. The Bison won the ensuing faceoff and were on the extra man, but after a timeout, they were unable to get a shot off as sophomore Nick Turrini collected the groundball off a turnover to seal the Lehigh victory.
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"Offensively and defensively, the way I would characterize it is we made enough plays to win the game today," said Cassese. "We still need to be better in both areas for sure. We weren't clean enough in each of those areas and can be better, but today, in this game, we won a one-goal game. We made enough plays to win."
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The Mountain Hawks finished with a 44-42 advantage in shots and 43-35 edge in groundballs. Bucknell was 1-for-5 on the extra man while Lehigh was 2-for-3. Senior James Spence finished with 13 saves, including stopping all five sent his way in the second quarter and five-of-eight in the fourth. Spence is up to 613 career saves, passing Todd Schreiner for second in program history. He stands seventh in Patriot League history.
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"Overall, I was happy to win, but certainly not content with the way we played," said Cassese. "I think we need to be a lot better in just about every area. A lot cleaner. We turned the ball over way too much today (19 times, including nine times in the fourth). We have a lot to work on and we'll look to do that this week and get ready for Colgate."
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The Mountain Hawks will hit the road on Saturday to face Colgate at 4 p.m.
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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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Team Stats
BUCKNELL
LEHIGH
Shots
42
44
Turnovers
11
19
Caused Turnovers
15
7
Faceoffs Won
7
20
Extra-Man Opps
5
3
Ground Balls
35
43
Game Leaders
Players
G
4
A
1
FO
-
Pen
-
GB
1
CT
0
G
3
A
2
FO
-
Pen
1-60
GB
1
CT
0
G
2
A
1
FO
-
Pen
1-30
GB
2
CT
0
G
2
A
1
FO
-
Pen
-
GB
0
CT
0
Players Mentioned
A/M
/ Men's LacrosseA/M
/ Men's Lacrosse
D
/ Men's LacrosseA
/ Men's Lacrosse
LSM/D
/ Men's Lacrosse
A
/ Men's LacrosseA
/ Men's LacrosseA
/ Men's Lacrosse
FO/M
/ Men's Lacrosse
G
/ Men's Lacrosse
D
/ Men's Lacrosse
M/A
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