Saturday, March 18
Bethlehem, Pa.
1 PM
Lehigh University
5-2, 2-1PL
10
vs
12
Army West Point
6-1, 3-0PL
1
2
3
4
F
ARMY
3
1
4
4
12
Lehigh
3
3
0
4
10
Photo by: Matt Smith
Second Half the Difference in 12-10 loss vs. No.13/15 Army
3/18/2023 5:07:00 PM | Men's Lacrosse
BETHLEHEM, Pa. - The Lehigh men's lacrosse team suffered a 12-10 loss to No. 13/15 Army on Saturday at Frank Banko Field.Â
The Mountain Hawks are 5-2 (2-1 PL), and the Black Knights are 6-1 (3-0 PL).Â
"I want to congratulate Army on a game well played," said head coach Kevin Cassese. "They won all the hustle stats… Picked up 17 more GB's than us, rode us hard all day, and forced us to commit 19 turnovers."
Army scored the first goal of the game, but Lehigh would answer with a 3-0 run. Justin Tiernan scored the first two goals, and Matt Marker scored the third goal to cap the run. Christian Mule' assisted on the last two goals.Â
The game was tied 3-3 after one quarter and Lehigh outscored Army 3-1 in the second to take a 6-4 lead into halftime. The Mountain Hawks defense shined in the quarter, limiting the Black Knights to very few chances on the offensive end.Â
At the half, Lehigh led 6-4, but the Black Knights would be heading into the third quarter on an extra man opportunity since a one-minute penalty was called on Scott Cole with 16 seconds in the first half.Â
The Black Knights opened the third quarter with an extra man opportunity and used that to their advantage, scoring in the first 30 seconds of the second half. Army outscored Lehigh 4-0 in the third quarter and led 8-6 after three.
Scott Cole got onto the board with 13:27 left in the fourth quarter to stop an Army run, but every time the Mountain Hawks would respond, the Black Knights had an answer.Â
Cole scored his third goal of the game with 48 seconds left in the game, and Mike Sisselberger won the faceoff to give Lehigh possession, but the Mountain Hawks could not capitalize.
Turnovers and penalties proved to play a big difference in Saturday's game. Lehigh had 19 turnovers, while Army had 13. The Mountain Hawks were 15-of-20 on clears, and the Black Knights were 14-of-16. Lehigh was called for nine penalties, while Army was called for five
Judah Hicks and Ryan Niggeman both had two caused turnovers for Lehigh.
Cole led Lehigh with five points on three goals and two assists. Justin Tiernan had a hat trick as well.
Mike Sisselberger was 13-of-22 at the stripe and tallied eight ground balls. His eight ground balls put him at 401 for his career, which tied Conor Gaffney for the most ground balls in school history.
Nick Pecora recorded 11 saves for Lehigh on Saturday.
Evan Plunkett led Army with three goals and Reese Burek added six points on two goals and four assists
Lehigh will close out the non-conference schedule against Georgetown in Washington, D.C. next Saturday with opening faceoff set for noon.
"I thought we played our best settled 6v6 defense of the season, so that was a bright spot, but we simply weren't clean enough or tough enough to win this game." Cassese said. "We will keep working and make every effort to be better when we hit the field next Saturday in DC."
Like Lehigh men's lacrosse on Facebook, follow on Twitter and Instagram for continued updates on the Mountain Hawks.
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The Mountain Hawks are 5-2 (2-1 PL), and the Black Knights are 6-1 (3-0 PL).Â
"I want to congratulate Army on a game well played," said head coach Kevin Cassese. "They won all the hustle stats… Picked up 17 more GB's than us, rode us hard all day, and forced us to commit 19 turnovers."
Army scored the first goal of the game, but Lehigh would answer with a 3-0 run. Justin Tiernan scored the first two goals, and Matt Marker scored the third goal to cap the run. Christian Mule' assisted on the last two goals.Â
The game was tied 3-3 after one quarter and Lehigh outscored Army 3-1 in the second to take a 6-4 lead into halftime. The Mountain Hawks defense shined in the quarter, limiting the Black Knights to very few chances on the offensive end.Â
At the half, Lehigh led 6-4, but the Black Knights would be heading into the third quarter on an extra man opportunity since a one-minute penalty was called on Scott Cole with 16 seconds in the first half.Â
The Black Knights opened the third quarter with an extra man opportunity and used that to their advantage, scoring in the first 30 seconds of the second half. Army outscored Lehigh 4-0 in the third quarter and led 8-6 after three.
Scott Cole got onto the board with 13:27 left in the fourth quarter to stop an Army run, but every time the Mountain Hawks would respond, the Black Knights had an answer.Â
Cole scored his third goal of the game with 48 seconds left in the game, and Mike Sisselberger won the faceoff to give Lehigh possession, but the Mountain Hawks could not capitalize.
Turnovers and penalties proved to play a big difference in Saturday's game. Lehigh had 19 turnovers, while Army had 13. The Mountain Hawks were 15-of-20 on clears, and the Black Knights were 14-of-16. Lehigh was called for nine penalties, while Army was called for five
Judah Hicks and Ryan Niggeman both had two caused turnovers for Lehigh.
Cole led Lehigh with five points on three goals and two assists. Justin Tiernan had a hat trick as well.
Mike Sisselberger was 13-of-22 at the stripe and tallied eight ground balls. His eight ground balls put him at 401 for his career, which tied Conor Gaffney for the most ground balls in school history.
Nick Pecora recorded 11 saves for Lehigh on Saturday.
Evan Plunkett led Army with three goals and Reese Burek added six points on two goals and four assists
Lehigh will close out the non-conference schedule against Georgetown in Washington, D.C. next Saturday with opening faceoff set for noon.
"I thought we played our best settled 6v6 defense of the season, so that was a bright spot, but we simply weren't clean enough or tough enough to win this game." Cassese said. "We will keep working and make every effort to be better when we hit the field next Saturday in DC."
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
ARMYM(~1
LEHIGH
Shots
37
26
Turnovers
13
19
Caused Turnovers
10
9
Faceoffs Won
9
13
Extra-Man Opps
9
3
Ground Balls
43
27
Game Leaders
Players
G
3
A
2
FO
-
Pen
2-90
GB
1
CT
0
G
3
A
0
FO
-
Pen
-
GB
0
CT
0
G
1
A
0
FO
-
Pen
-
GB
0
CT
1
G
1
A
1
FO
-
Pen
-
GB
0
CT
0
Players Mentioned
A/M
/ Men's Lacrosse
LSM/D
/ Men's LacrosseA
/ Men's Lacrosse
A
/ Men's Lacrosse
G
/ Men's Lacrosse
D
/ Men's Lacrosse
FO/M
/ Men's LacrosseA
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