No.14/15 Rutgers Edges Lehigh in the Second Half in 14-12 Loss

Saturday, February 3

Piscataway, N.J.

1:00 PM

Lehigh University

0-1

No. 14/15 Rutgers University

1-0

LEHIGH

No.14/15 Rutgers Edges Lehigh in the Second Half in 14-12 Loss

2/3/2024 7:04:00 PM | Men's Lacrosse

Box Score

PISCATAWAY, N.J. - Lehigh men's lacrosse opened up the 2024 season with a 14-12 loss to No.14/15 Rutgers Saturday afternoon at SHI Stadium.

Both teams went on their own runs, but the difference would be the third quarter when the Scarlet Knights outscored the Mountain Hawks 5-3, and Lehigh wasn't able to make up the difference in the fourth quarter.

Andrew Kelly netted a career-high of four goals to lead the way for the Mountain Hawks. Kelly scored three of those four goals in the first half, one of which he netted with six seconds left in the the second quarter to tie the game at 7-7 heading into halftime.

Scott Cole and Quinn Armstrong finished with two goals apiece. Dakota Eierman, Tyler Lahey, EJ Vasile and Grant Rodny each finished with one goal. Eierman also had Lehigh's two assists.

Lehigh came out of the gates ready to start, scoring the first two goals. Rutgers scored two goals in a little over a minute to tie the game, but the Mountain Hawks ended the quarter on a 3-0 run.

The Scarlet Knights were able to hold Lehigh to two goals in the second quarter while they scored five of their own.

John Sidorski scored back-to-back goals for the Scarlet Knights to give them a three-goal edge with 2:39 remaining in the quarter.

While Lehigh cut Rutgers' lead to one twice in the fourth quarter, the Scarlet Knights were there for an answer every time.

Senior goalkeeper Nick Pecora finished with 10 saves, as did Rutgers' Cardin Stoller.

The Scarlet Knights won the faceoff battle, holding an 18-12 advantage. Matt Brock was 2-of-4 from the stripe, and Sean Dow was 10-of-26.

Rutgers had 14 turnovers compared to Lehigh's 11. Raul Ochotorena had a team-high of two caused turnovers, which was also a career-high for the junior defenseman.

Dante Kulas and Ross Scott both led the way with five points (3G, 2A) for Rutgers.

Lehigh finished with a 40-38 advantage in shots, but Rutgers won the ground ball battle, 32-22.

The Mountain Hawks will continue their road stretch when they play at Fairfield next Saturday at 12 p.m.