Tuesday, May 2
Bethlehem, Pa.
7:00 PM
Lehigh University
10-4 (7-2PL)
12
vs
8
Lafayette
6-10 (3-5PL)
1
2
3
4
F
LAF
1
2
1
4
8
Lehigh
2
0
6
4
12
Photo by: Trent Weaver
Lehigh Beats Lafayette 12-8, Moves on to Semifinals
5/2/2023 10:54:00 PM | Men's Lacrosse
BETHLEHEM, Pa. - The Lehigh men's lacrosse team is moving on to the Patriot League semifinals after a 12-8 win over Lafayette in the Patriot League quarterfinals on Tuesday at Frank Banko Field.Â
Lehigh improves to 10-4, while Lafayette's season ends at 6-10.
"I want to give a lot of credit to coach Myers and Lafayette," said head coach Kevin Cassese. "They gave us everything we can handle tonight, and I was really impressed with them. It''s tough to beat a team twice in any year, especially when it's your cross town rival."
The Mountain Hawks will take on Army at Boston University on Friday at 7 p.m. on CBS Sports Network in the Patriot League semifinals.Â
"Very excited to win tonight and to keep playing and extend the season and get more time together," Cassese said. "We will have another bus trip up to Boston and another opportunity to play Army. Playing the service academies is something that brings the best out of you because we have to be great."Â
Nine different Mountain Hawks recorded a point on Tuesday. Christian Mule' had a game-high of five points, all of which were assists. Scott Cole and Justin Tiernan both recorded hat-tricks. John Sidorski finished with three points after scoring a goal and dishing out two assists.Â
Sidorski put Lehigh on the board first. The Leopards didn't get on the board until 1:40 left in the first quarter. Justin Tiernan scored a goal with 36 seconds left to give the Mountain Hawks a 2-1 advantage after the first quarter.
Lafayette scored the only two goals of the second quarter to lead 3-2 at halftime.
The Mountain Hawks turned things around in the second half and went on an 8-0 run after Lafayette went up 4-3. Cole had three of those eight goals. Tiernan had two and Matt Marker, Quinn Armstrong and Matt Marker each netted one.Â
"We had to stay the course," Cassese said. "I thought we were offensively generating a lot of good shots in the first half. I thought their goalie was excellent, so we just had to solve them a little bit, and we talked about it at halftime and were able to shoot a lot better in the third quarter, in particular."Â
The Mountain Hawks held the Leopards scoreless for nearly 20 minutes. Lafayette stopped the 8-0 run with 7:07 left in the fourth quarter. Lafayette scored four straight goals to cut Lehigh's lead to 11-8 with 1:56 left. Despite the Leopards winning the faceoff, Mike Sisselberger was able to cause a turnover to stop the run and give Lehigh possession, which led to a goal from Dakota Eierman.Â
This marked the fifth time in the last six games that Lehigh's defense held an opponent to single-digit goals.Â
Sisselberger had another incredible day at the stripe. He won 16-of-21 faceoffs and grabbed nine ground balls. Lafayette's James Turco was 7-of-23.Â
Junior goalkeeper Nick Pecora had 10 saves for Lehigh. Lafayette's Joe Doherty finished with 15 saves.Â
Lafayette's John Mathes and Carter Cecil both tallied two goals for the Leopards.Â
Lehigh held a 41-27 advantage in shots. The Mountain Hawks also won the ground ball battle and held a 31-17 advantage.Â
Friday's Lehigh-Army semifinal will follow the first semifinal between No. 1 Boston University and No. 5 Loyola. The remainder of the Patriot League Tournament will be televised on CBS Sports Network.
Like Lehigh men's lacrosse on Facebook, follow on Twitter and Instagram for continued updates on the Mountain Hawks.
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Lehigh improves to 10-4, while Lafayette's season ends at 6-10.
"I want to give a lot of credit to coach Myers and Lafayette," said head coach Kevin Cassese. "They gave us everything we can handle tonight, and I was really impressed with them. It''s tough to beat a team twice in any year, especially when it's your cross town rival."
The Mountain Hawks will take on Army at Boston University on Friday at 7 p.m. on CBS Sports Network in the Patriot League semifinals.Â
"Very excited to win tonight and to keep playing and extend the season and get more time together," Cassese said. "We will have another bus trip up to Boston and another opportunity to play Army. Playing the service academies is something that brings the best out of you because we have to be great."Â
Nine different Mountain Hawks recorded a point on Tuesday. Christian Mule' had a game-high of five points, all of which were assists. Scott Cole and Justin Tiernan both recorded hat-tricks. John Sidorski finished with three points after scoring a goal and dishing out two assists.Â
Sidorski put Lehigh on the board first. The Leopards didn't get on the board until 1:40 left in the first quarter. Justin Tiernan scored a goal with 36 seconds left to give the Mountain Hawks a 2-1 advantage after the first quarter.
Lafayette scored the only two goals of the second quarter to lead 3-2 at halftime.
The Mountain Hawks turned things around in the second half and went on an 8-0 run after Lafayette went up 4-3. Cole had three of those eight goals. Tiernan had two and Matt Marker, Quinn Armstrong and Matt Marker each netted one.Â
"We had to stay the course," Cassese said. "I thought we were offensively generating a lot of good shots in the first half. I thought their goalie was excellent, so we just had to solve them a little bit, and we talked about it at halftime and were able to shoot a lot better in the third quarter, in particular."Â
The Mountain Hawks held the Leopards scoreless for nearly 20 minutes. Lafayette stopped the 8-0 run with 7:07 left in the fourth quarter. Lafayette scored four straight goals to cut Lehigh's lead to 11-8 with 1:56 left. Despite the Leopards winning the faceoff, Mike Sisselberger was able to cause a turnover to stop the run and give Lehigh possession, which led to a goal from Dakota Eierman.Â
This marked the fifth time in the last six games that Lehigh's defense held an opponent to single-digit goals.Â
Sisselberger had another incredible day at the stripe. He won 16-of-21 faceoffs and grabbed nine ground balls. Lafayette's James Turco was 7-of-23.Â
Junior goalkeeper Nick Pecora had 10 saves for Lehigh. Lafayette's Joe Doherty finished with 15 saves.Â
Lafayette's John Mathes and Carter Cecil both tallied two goals for the Leopards.Â
Lehigh held a 41-27 advantage in shots. The Mountain Hawks also won the ground ball battle and held a 31-17 advantage.Â
Friday's Lehigh-Army semifinal will follow the first semifinal between No. 1 Boston University and No. 5 Loyola. The remainder of the Patriot League Tournament will be televised on CBS Sports Network.
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
LAF
LEHIGH
Shots
27
41
Turnovers
15
11
Caused Turnovers
5
9
Faceoffs Won
7
16
Extra-Man Opps
6
5
Ground Balls
17
31
Game Leaders
Players
G
3
A
0
FO
-
Pen
-
GB
2
CT
0
G
3
A
0
FO
-
Pen
1-60
GB
1
CT
0
G
2
A
0
FO
-
Pen
1-30
GB
2
CT
0
G
1
A
1
FO
-
Pen
-
GB
0
CT
0
Players Mentioned
A/M
/ Men's LacrosseA/M
/ Men's LacrosseM
/ Men's Lacrosse
A
/ Men's Lacrosse
A
/ Men's Lacrosse
G
/ Men's Lacrosse
A/M
/ Men's Lacrosse
FO/M
/ Men's LacrosseA
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