Saturday, February 11
Bethlehem, Pa.
1:00 PM
Lehigh University
1-0
20
vs
10
Fairfield
0-1
1
2
3
4
F
Fairfield
4
3
2
1
10
Lehigh
5
5
5
5
20
Lehigh Dominates Fairfield in Season-Opener
2/11/2023 9:31:00 PM | Men's Lacrosse
BETHLEHEM, Pa. - The Lehigh men's lacrosse team dominated in its season opener, defeating Fairfield 20-10 on Saturday at Frank Banko Field.Â
All three starting attackmen recorded hat tricks, with Christian Mule' leading the way with 10 points (6A, 4G). Mule's 10 points tied a career-high. Scott Cole notched seven points (4G, 3A), and Justin Tiernan had five goals.Â
"Our offense really showed up and played today," said head coach Kevin Cassese."That was a really impressive performance. I thought our attack unit, in particular, put up a lot of points. I thought just overall, both midfield units and the attack included were working really well together. That's the best version of our offense when we're sharing the ball on offense and playing six-man offense."
It was a back-and-forth first quarter. Cole gave Lehigh the edge in the first quarter, scoring a goal with 10 seconds left in the first frame to put Lehigh up 5-4. The Mountain Hawks dominated from there on out.
Tiernan erupted in the second quarter, scoring three goals in less than two minutes. Mule' scored another goal right after Tiernan to mark a 4-0 run for Lehigh. Fairfield's Jack McKenna stopped the 4-0 Lehigh run with his own goal with 7:25 left in the second quarter. McKenna led Fairfield with five goals.Â
The Stags netted the last two goals of the second quarter to cut Lehigh's lead to 10-7 at halftime.Â
Lehigh stepped up after the second half and came out roaring. Cole scored two straight goals, and Grant Rodny netted his first collegiate goal with 11:42 left in the third quarter. The Stags responded from there with two goals of their own, but Lehigh went on a 5-0 run.Â
McKenna once again stopped the Lehigh run with five minutes left in the game, but Lehigh's defense held Fairfield scoreless for the rest of the game.Â
Mike Sisselberger was dominant on Saturday. He was 19-of-30 from the "x". Sean Dow took three faceoffs for Lehigh, winning one.Â
First-year Richard Checo shined in his first collegiate game. He led Lehigh with three caused turnovers. He also picked up three ground balls.Â
Lehigh forced 20 turnovers from Fairfield, while the Mountain Hawks only had 14. Fairfield's Colin Consoli finished the day with 15 saves.Â
"It was very sloppy at times, but you can expect that in the first game," Cassese said. "I was proud of the guys because I felt like there would be a bunch of nerves, especially on the defensive end in the beginning, and I didn't feel that. I thought they were pretty settled. I was excited about that. Overall, we went to the penalty box way too many times."Â
The Mountain Hawks held the advantage in shots Saturday afternoon. They had 40 shots, while the Stags had 34.Â
Junior goalie Nick Pecora made his first career start for Lehigh and finished with 12 saves. Caleb Creasor came in for three minutes and recorded a save.Â
"I thought Nick Pecora was excellent in goal, " Cassese said."He stole a bunch, and he made the saves that he was supposed to save and some that he maybe wasn't supposed to save. That was a really impressive outing by Nick in goal.
"The thing I"m most proud of is that we played without our fifth-year Judah Hicks," Cassese continued. "He went down in practice this week, and hopefully, we'll get him back next week. To lose a guy that late in the week who has such a big vocal presence, and some experience and to rally around that, and to have the guys gel the way they did, I was impressed with that. "
The Mountain Hawks return home on Feb. 18 at 12 p.m. against Hobart.Â
Like Lehigh men's lacrosse on Facebook, follow on Twitter and Instagram for continued updates on the Mountain Hawks.
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All three starting attackmen recorded hat tricks, with Christian Mule' leading the way with 10 points (6A, 4G). Mule's 10 points tied a career-high. Scott Cole notched seven points (4G, 3A), and Justin Tiernan had five goals.Â
"Our offense really showed up and played today," said head coach Kevin Cassese."That was a really impressive performance. I thought our attack unit, in particular, put up a lot of points. I thought just overall, both midfield units and the attack included were working really well together. That's the best version of our offense when we're sharing the ball on offense and playing six-man offense."
It was a back-and-forth first quarter. Cole gave Lehigh the edge in the first quarter, scoring a goal with 10 seconds left in the first frame to put Lehigh up 5-4. The Mountain Hawks dominated from there on out.
Tiernan erupted in the second quarter, scoring three goals in less than two minutes. Mule' scored another goal right after Tiernan to mark a 4-0 run for Lehigh. Fairfield's Jack McKenna stopped the 4-0 Lehigh run with his own goal with 7:25 left in the second quarter. McKenna led Fairfield with five goals.Â
The Stags netted the last two goals of the second quarter to cut Lehigh's lead to 10-7 at halftime.Â
Lehigh stepped up after the second half and came out roaring. Cole scored two straight goals, and Grant Rodny netted his first collegiate goal with 11:42 left in the third quarter. The Stags responded from there with two goals of their own, but Lehigh went on a 5-0 run.Â
McKenna once again stopped the Lehigh run with five minutes left in the game, but Lehigh's defense held Fairfield scoreless for the rest of the game.Â
Mike Sisselberger was dominant on Saturday. He was 19-of-30 from the "x". Sean Dow took three faceoffs for Lehigh, winning one.Â
First-year Richard Checo shined in his first collegiate game. He led Lehigh with three caused turnovers. He also picked up three ground balls.Â
Lehigh forced 20 turnovers from Fairfield, while the Mountain Hawks only had 14. Fairfield's Colin Consoli finished the day with 15 saves.Â
"It was very sloppy at times, but you can expect that in the first game," Cassese said. "I was proud of the guys because I felt like there would be a bunch of nerves, especially on the defensive end in the beginning, and I didn't feel that. I thought they were pretty settled. I was excited about that. Overall, we went to the penalty box way too many times."Â
The Mountain Hawks held the advantage in shots Saturday afternoon. They had 40 shots, while the Stags had 34.Â
Junior goalie Nick Pecora made his first career start for Lehigh and finished with 12 saves. Caleb Creasor came in for three minutes and recorded a save.Â
"I thought Nick Pecora was excellent in goal, " Cassese said."He stole a bunch, and he made the saves that he was supposed to save and some that he maybe wasn't supposed to save. That was a really impressive outing by Nick in goal.
"The thing I"m most proud of is that we played without our fifth-year Judah Hicks," Cassese continued. "He went down in practice this week, and hopefully, we'll get him back next week. To lose a guy that late in the week who has such a big vocal presence, and some experience and to rally around that, and to have the guys gel the way they did, I was impressed with that. "
The Mountain Hawks return home on Feb. 18 at 12 p.m. against Hobart.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
FFD
LEHIGH
Shots
34
50
Turnovers
20
14
Caused Turnovers
5
11
Faceoffs Won
13
20
Extra-Man Opps
7
4
Ground Balls
28
40
Game Leaders
Players
G
5
A
0
FO
-
Pen
1-60
GB
1
CT
0
G
4
A
6
FO
-
Pen
-
GB
2
CT
2
G
4
A
3
FO
-
Pen
-
GB
3
CT
1
G
2
A
0
FO
-
Pen
-
GB
0
CT
0
Players Mentioned
D
/ Men's LacrosseA/M
/ Men's Lacrosse
G
/ Men's Lacrosse
LSM/D
/ Men's LacrosseA
/ Men's Lacrosse
G
/ Men's LacrosseA
/ Men's Lacrosse
FO/M
/ Men's LacrosseA
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