Saturday, February 18
Bethlehem, Pa.
12 PM
Lehigh University
2-0
19
vs
13
Hobart
1-1
1
2
3
4
F
Hobart
6
4
2
1
13
Lehigh
3
5
6
5
19
Lehigh Men's Lacrosse Completes Comeback vs. Hobart
2/18/2023 7:14:00 PM | Men's Lacrosse
BETHLEHEM, Pa. -The Lehigh men's lacrosse team found itself in an early six-goal hole, but the Mountain Hawks rallied from there to come away with a 19-13 win against Hobart Saturday afternoon at Frank Banko Field.Â
"It was tough sledding, at least for the first half, " said head coach Kevin Cassese. "I give a lot of credit to Hobart. They came out and took a fight to us right away. We found ourselves in a pretty deep hole. At one point, it was 10-4, and things weren't going so well for us."
This was Lehigh's second straight win after defeating Fairfield last week. Hobart dropped to 1-1.Â
The Statesmen took a 2-0 lead early on and held a lead until 6:51 left in the third quarter. After Hobart went up 10-4, Lehigh called a timeout, and the momentum started to swing Lehigh's way. The Mountain Hawks went on a 4-0 run.Â
Matt Marker scored the first goal, Dakota Eierman had the next, and Justin Tiernan netted the final two goals of the first half to cut Hobart's lead to 10-8 at halftime.Â
"The message at the half was to stay the course, honestly," Cassese said. "We had to make a few adjustments on offense and a couple of adjustments on defense. I thought the guys responded to that really well. I thought all the coaches did a really good job, with Coach Scudder and Coach Francis on the defensive end and Coach Licciardi on the offensive end. "
Hobart came out of the half and scored the first goal, but Lehigh went on a 4-0 run from there. Christian Mule' scored a goal with 2:17 left in the third quarter to put Lehigh up 13-12. That was Lehigh's first lead of the game, and the Mountain Hawks would dominate from there.Â
Lehigh ended the game on a 7-1 run.Â
Mule' and Scott Cole both had six points for Lehigh. Mule' had five goals and one assist, while Cole had four goals and two assists. All four of Cole's goals were scored in the second half.
"I felt like Scott Cole wasn't involved on the offensive end in the first half," Cassese said. "He's a pretty important part of our offense, so that was a big key."
Mike Sisselbeger was 17-of-33 at the stripe on Saturday. First-year Richard Checo tallied a career-high of four caused turnovers, while first-year Luke McAuliffe recorded two caused turnovers. Checo also tallied six ground balls.
Junior goalie Nick Pecora made 12 saves for the second straight game.
Hobart's Loukas Sotiropoulous had 17 saves. The Statesmen were led by Bradley Simas, who finished the day with five points on three goals and two assists.Â
Lehigh had a 54-35 advantage in shots on Saturday. The Mountain Hawks also forced 18 turnovers, while they committed 15.
"'Any win is a big win in Division I lacrosse," Cassese said. "Hobart is a good team, and it was good to beat a tough team today."
Lehigh will head to Ithaca, N.Y., to take on Cornell on Feb. 25 for their first road game of the year. Opening faceoff is set for noon.Â
Like Lehigh men's lacrosse on Facebook, follow on Twitter and Instagram for continued updates on the Mountain Hawks.
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"It was tough sledding, at least for the first half, " said head coach Kevin Cassese. "I give a lot of credit to Hobart. They came out and took a fight to us right away. We found ourselves in a pretty deep hole. At one point, it was 10-4, and things weren't going so well for us."
This was Lehigh's second straight win after defeating Fairfield last week. Hobart dropped to 1-1.Â
The Statesmen took a 2-0 lead early on and held a lead until 6:51 left in the third quarter. After Hobart went up 10-4, Lehigh called a timeout, and the momentum started to swing Lehigh's way. The Mountain Hawks went on a 4-0 run.Â
Matt Marker scored the first goal, Dakota Eierman had the next, and Justin Tiernan netted the final two goals of the first half to cut Hobart's lead to 10-8 at halftime.Â
"The message at the half was to stay the course, honestly," Cassese said. "We had to make a few adjustments on offense and a couple of adjustments on defense. I thought the guys responded to that really well. I thought all the coaches did a really good job, with Coach Scudder and Coach Francis on the defensive end and Coach Licciardi on the offensive end. "
Hobart came out of the half and scored the first goal, but Lehigh went on a 4-0 run from there. Christian Mule' scored a goal with 2:17 left in the third quarter to put Lehigh up 13-12. That was Lehigh's first lead of the game, and the Mountain Hawks would dominate from there.Â
Lehigh ended the game on a 7-1 run.Â
Mule' and Scott Cole both had six points for Lehigh. Mule' had five goals and one assist, while Cole had four goals and two assists. All four of Cole's goals were scored in the second half.
"I felt like Scott Cole wasn't involved on the offensive end in the first half," Cassese said. "He's a pretty important part of our offense, so that was a big key."
Mike Sisselbeger was 17-of-33 at the stripe on Saturday. First-year Richard Checo tallied a career-high of four caused turnovers, while first-year Luke McAuliffe recorded two caused turnovers. Checo also tallied six ground balls.
Junior goalie Nick Pecora made 12 saves for the second straight game.
Hobart's Loukas Sotiropoulous had 17 saves. The Statesmen were led by Bradley Simas, who finished the day with five points on three goals and two assists.Â
Lehigh had a 54-35 advantage in shots on Saturday. The Mountain Hawks also forced 18 turnovers, while they committed 15.
"'Any win is a big win in Division I lacrosse," Cassese said. "Hobart is a good team, and it was good to beat a tough team today."
Lehigh will head to Ithaca, N.Y., to take on Cornell on Feb. 25 for their first road game of the year. Opening faceoff is set for noon.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
HOBART
LEHIGH
Shots
35
54
Turnovers
18
16
Caused Turnovers
6
11
Faceoffs Won
15
20
Extra-Man Opps
4
7
Ground Balls
38
38
Game Leaders
Players
G
5
A
1
FO
-
Pen
1-60
GB
1
CT
0
G
4
A
2
FO
-
Pen
-
GB
0
CT
0
G
3
A
0
FO
-
Pen
-
GB
1
CT
0
G
3
A
1
FO
-
Pen
-
GB
2
CT
0
Players Mentioned
D
/ Men's LacrosseA/M
/ Men's Lacrosse
M
/ Men's LacrosseA
/ Men's Lacrosse
D
/ Men's LacrosseA
/ Men's Lacrosse
G
/ Men's LacrosseA
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