Saturday, April 1
Bethlehem, Pa.
1 PM
Lehigh University
6-3, 3-1PL
15
vs
9
Lafayette
4-7, 1-4PL
1
2
3
4
F
LAF
2
1
1
5
9
Lehigh
3
2
6
4
15
Photo by: Trent Weaver
Lehigh Defeats Lafayette 15-9 in The Rivalry
4/1/2023 5:26:00 PM | Men's Lacrosse
BETHLEHEM, Pa. - The Lehigh men's lacrosse team captured its 14th straight win over Lafayette in the Rivalry, presented by Lehigh Valley Orthopedic Institute, after defeating the Leopards 15-9 Saturday afternoon at the Ulrich Sports Complex.
The Mountain Hawks improved to 6-3 overall (3-1 PL), and Lafayette dropped to 4-7 (1-4 PL).
"I thought our defense was absolutely outstanding today, and we've been working on it all season long obviously, and we've been looking for a game where we hold someone to single digits, and we picked a great day for it," said head coach Kevin Cassese. "It was a total team effort. I give coach Scudder and coach Francis all the credit leading those guys on the defense."
Mike Sisselberger had a phenomenal game on Saturday. The two-time All-American, who was just named an Inside Lacrosse Midseason All-American on Friday, was 19-of-22 at the stripe.
"Our wing play really came together," Sisselberger said. "We like to talk about midseason form, and I think we're in good midseason form and hitting our stride"
The Mountain Hawks had a 46-36 advantage in shots. Eight different players scored for Lehigh. Christian Mule' and Scott Cole both had seven points. Mule' and Cole each scored two goals while recording five assists Justin Tiernan recorded four goals of his own as well.
It was Lafayette who got on the board first on Saturday, but after Matt Marker gave Lehigh a 3-2 lead with 1:04 to go in the first quarter, the Mountain Hawks would not look back, as they outscored Lafayette 12-7 for the remainder of the game.
The Mountain Hawks were able to hold the Leopards scoreless for 15 minutes in the first half, which helped put the Mountain Hawks up 5-3 at halftime. Part of the low-scoring first half was due to Lafayette's goalkeeper Joe Doherty tallying eight saves in the second quarter. He finished with 18 saves.
Lehigh's offense came out soaring in the second half, and the defense stood strong to hold Lafayette to single digits on Saturday. The nine goals allowed were the fewest allowed by the Mountain Hawks all season.
The Mountain Hawks established a cushion, outscoring the Leopards 6-1 in the third quarter to go up 11-4 after three.
Junior goalkeeper NIck Pecora had 10 saves for Lehigh, and Caleb Creasor had one save.
"I thought we got really good play out of Nick Pecora in goal, and I thought we played really good in front as well," Cassese said.
Richard Checo, the nation's leader in caused turnovers, had a game-high of four caused turnovers.
"Richard Checo is special," Cassese said. "He's doing a great job for us this year, and he's mature beyond his years when it comes to his lacrosse IQ and understanding where he needs to put himself in the grand scheme of things to create some chaos out there.He's been creating chaos out there since game number one."
Kalman Kraham had a hat trick to lead the way for Lafayette.
The Mountain Hawks will travel to Lewisburg to take on Bucknell on April 8. Opening faceoff is set for 1 p.m.
Like Lehigh men's lacrosse on Facebook, follow on Twitter and Instagram for continued updates on the Mountain Hawks.
The Mountain Hawks improved to 6-3 overall (3-1 PL), and Lafayette dropped to 4-7 (1-4 PL).
"I thought our defense was absolutely outstanding today, and we've been working on it all season long obviously, and we've been looking for a game where we hold someone to single digits, and we picked a great day for it," said head coach Kevin Cassese. "It was a total team effort. I give coach Scudder and coach Francis all the credit leading those guys on the defense."
Mike Sisselberger had a phenomenal game on Saturday. The two-time All-American, who was just named an Inside Lacrosse Midseason All-American on Friday, was 19-of-22 at the stripe.
"Our wing play really came together," Sisselberger said. "We like to talk about midseason form, and I think we're in good midseason form and hitting our stride"
The Mountain Hawks had a 46-36 advantage in shots. Eight different players scored for Lehigh. Christian Mule' and Scott Cole both had seven points. Mule' and Cole each scored two goals while recording five assists Justin Tiernan recorded four goals of his own as well.
It was Lafayette who got on the board first on Saturday, but after Matt Marker gave Lehigh a 3-2 lead with 1:04 to go in the first quarter, the Mountain Hawks would not look back, as they outscored Lafayette 12-7 for the remainder of the game.
The Mountain Hawks were able to hold the Leopards scoreless for 15 minutes in the first half, which helped put the Mountain Hawks up 5-3 at halftime. Part of the low-scoring first half was due to Lafayette's goalkeeper Joe Doherty tallying eight saves in the second quarter. He finished with 18 saves.
Lehigh's offense came out soaring in the second half, and the defense stood strong to hold Lafayette to single digits on Saturday. The nine goals allowed were the fewest allowed by the Mountain Hawks all season.
The Mountain Hawks established a cushion, outscoring the Leopards 6-1 in the third quarter to go up 11-4 after three.
Junior goalkeeper NIck Pecora had 10 saves for Lehigh, and Caleb Creasor had one save.
"I thought we got really good play out of Nick Pecora in goal, and I thought we played really good in front as well," Cassese said.
Richard Checo, the nation's leader in caused turnovers, had a game-high of four caused turnovers.
"Richard Checo is special," Cassese said. "He's doing a great job for us this year, and he's mature beyond his years when it comes to his lacrosse IQ and understanding where he needs to put himself in the grand scheme of things to create some chaos out there.He's been creating chaos out there since game number one."
Kalman Kraham had a hat trick to lead the way for Lafayette.
The Mountain Hawks will travel to Lewisburg to take on Bucknell on April 8. Opening faceoff is set for 1 p.m.
Like Lehigh men's lacrosse on Facebook, follow on Twitter and Instagram for continued updates on the Mountain Hawks.
Team Stats
LAF
LEHIGH
Shots
36
46
Turnovers
13
12
Caused Turnovers
4
9
Faceoffs Won
7
21
Extra-Man Opps
6
4
Ground Balls
23
43
Game Leaders
G
4
A
0
FO
-
Pen
-
GB
1
CT
0
G
2
A
5
FO
-
Pen
1-60
GB
2
CT
1
G
2
A
4
FO
-
Pen
-
GB
0
CT
0
G
2
A
0
FO
-
Pen
-
GB
1
CT
0
Players Mentioned
D
/ Men's LacrosseA/M
/ Men's Lacrosse
G
/ Men's Lacrosse
A
/ Men's LacrosseA
/ Men's Lacrosse
G
/ Men's Lacrosse
FO/M
/ Men's LacrosseA
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