Saturday, April 8
Lewisburg, Pa.
1 PM
Lehigh University
11
at
8
Bucknell
Photo by: Trent Weaver
Lehigh Holds On Strong In 11-8 win At Bucknell
4/8/2023 4:21:00 PM | Men's Lacrosse
LEWISBURG, Pa. - The Lehigh men's lacrosse team came away with the 11-8 win against Bucknell Saturday afternoon at Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium.
The Mountain Hawks are now 7-3 (4-1 PL), and Bucknell is 2-8 (1-5 PL).
Fifth-year faceoff specialist Mike Sisselberger was a big reason why Lehigh was able to come away with the win on Saturday. He had a career-high performance, winning 20-of-21 faceoffs. Bucknell threw four different guys on him to try and stop the two-time All-American but was only able to win one faceoff on Saturday.
" I thought we got outstanding performances from our specialty positions," said head coach Kevin Cassese. "Sisselberger was darn near perfect today and we needed him to be. "I thought Pecora was excellent as well and our defense played tough in front of him."
Sean Dow came in and took one for Lehigh after Mike Sisseleberger won a faceoff and scored a goal with 2:28 left in the first half. Dow won that faceoff to go 1-for-1.
Bucknell opened up the scoring, but Scott Cole scored the next three goals for Lehigh to put the Mountain Hawks up 3-1 with five minutes to play in the first quarter. Cole had a game-high of six points (3G, 3A). Cole also needed just two points on Saturday to record his 100th career point. He now has 104 points.
Sisselberger's goal gave Lehigh the 7-4 lead at halftime.
Both teams struggled to capitalize on the extra-man opportunities. Lehigh was 1-of-6, and Bucknell was 0-for-5.
The extra-man goal that Lehigh did score was from Matt Marker. It gave Lehigh a 8-4 lead with 11:38 to play in the third quarter. It looked like Lehigh might run away with the game at the time, but the Bison scored the next four goals to tie the game at 8-8.
Dakota Eierman stopped the 4-0 run with a goal of his own with 11:06 left to play. It ended up being the game-winning goal for Lehigh.
The Mountain Hawks scored two more goals after that and held the Bison scoreless in the fourth quarter.
"I thought we had a slow start in both halves, but we're able to dig deep in the fourth quarter and make some plays that proved to be the difference," Cassese said.
Lehigh committed 20 turnovers but was able to stop Bucknell's offense and force five failed clears for the Bison.
Richard Checo, the nation's leader in caused turnovers, had a game-high of four caused turnovers. He also dished out an assist to Scott Cole. Lehigh forced nine of Bucknell's 13 turnovers.
The Mountain Hawks had a 45-25 advantage in ground balls. Sisselberger had a game-high of 13 ground balls.
Junior goalkeeper Nick Pecora came up big, stopping 14 shots on Saturday. Bucknell's Jaz Zanelli finished with 13 saves.
Bucknell was led by Connor Davis, who finished with a hat trick.
The Mountain Hawks will take on Colgate at home on April 15, which will be Senior Day. The game will be televised on CBS Sports Network at noon.
Like Lehigh men's lacrosse on Facebook, follow on Twitter and Instagram for continued updates on the Mountain Hawks.
The Mountain Hawks are now 7-3 (4-1 PL), and Bucknell is 2-8 (1-5 PL).
Fifth-year faceoff specialist Mike Sisselberger was a big reason why Lehigh was able to come away with the win on Saturday. He had a career-high performance, winning 20-of-21 faceoffs. Bucknell threw four different guys on him to try and stop the two-time All-American but was only able to win one faceoff on Saturday.
" I thought we got outstanding performances from our specialty positions," said head coach Kevin Cassese. "Sisselberger was darn near perfect today and we needed him to be. "I thought Pecora was excellent as well and our defense played tough in front of him."
Sean Dow came in and took one for Lehigh after Mike Sisseleberger won a faceoff and scored a goal with 2:28 left in the first half. Dow won that faceoff to go 1-for-1.
Bucknell opened up the scoring, but Scott Cole scored the next three goals for Lehigh to put the Mountain Hawks up 3-1 with five minutes to play in the first quarter. Cole had a game-high of six points (3G, 3A). Cole also needed just two points on Saturday to record his 100th career point. He now has 104 points.
Sisselberger's goal gave Lehigh the 7-4 lead at halftime.
Both teams struggled to capitalize on the extra-man opportunities. Lehigh was 1-of-6, and Bucknell was 0-for-5.
The extra-man goal that Lehigh did score was from Matt Marker. It gave Lehigh a 8-4 lead with 11:38 to play in the third quarter. It looked like Lehigh might run away with the game at the time, but the Bison scored the next four goals to tie the game at 8-8.
Dakota Eierman stopped the 4-0 run with a goal of his own with 11:06 left to play. It ended up being the game-winning goal for Lehigh.
The Mountain Hawks scored two more goals after that and held the Bison scoreless in the fourth quarter.
"I thought we had a slow start in both halves, but we're able to dig deep in the fourth quarter and make some plays that proved to be the difference," Cassese said.
Lehigh committed 20 turnovers but was able to stop Bucknell's offense and force five failed clears for the Bison.
Richard Checo, the nation's leader in caused turnovers, had a game-high of four caused turnovers. He also dished out an assist to Scott Cole. Lehigh forced nine of Bucknell's 13 turnovers.
The Mountain Hawks had a 45-25 advantage in ground balls. Sisselberger had a game-high of 13 ground balls.
Junior goalkeeper Nick Pecora came up big, stopping 14 shots on Saturday. Bucknell's Jaz Zanelli finished with 13 saves.
Bucknell was led by Connor Davis, who finished with a hat trick.
The Mountain Hawks will take on Colgate at home on April 15, which will be Senior Day. The game will be televised on CBS Sports Network at noon.
Like Lehigh men's lacrosse on Facebook, follow on Twitter and Instagram for continued updates on the Mountain Hawks.
Game Leaders
G
3
A
3
FO
-
Pen
2-60
GB
4
CT
0
G
2
A
0
FO
-
Pen
1-30
GB
5
CT
0
G
1
A
2
FO
-
Pen
1-30
GB
2
CT
1
G
1
A
0
FO
-
Pen
-
GB
0
CT
0
Players Mentioned
D
/ Men's LacrosseA/M
/ Men's Lacrosse
M
/ Men's Lacrosse
A
/ Men's Lacrosse
G
/ Men's Lacrosse
FO/M
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