Friday, May 3
West Point, N.Y.
7:00 PM
Lehigh University
vs
Navy
Mountain Hawks Battle Navy in Patriot League Semifinal Friday Night
5/2/2024 2:21:00 PM | Men's Lacrosse
BETHLEHEM, Pa. - All eyes turn to Friday night as Lehigh men's lacrosse will open up Patriot League Tournament play with a semifinal matchup against Navy on Friday at 7 p.m. at Army West Point. Friday's game will be televised nationally on CBS Sports Network.
The Mountain Hawks ended the regular season with an 8-6 record and a 6-2 Patriot League record. Lehigh also capped off the regular season with a four-game win streak to help seal the No. 2 seed in the tournament. The Midshipmen finished league play with a 5-3 record and earned a spot in the quarterfinals as the three seed, where they rolled to a 12-10 victory over Loyola. Navy's quarterfinal win marked its first win in the Patriot League Tournament since 2010. Â
Lehigh last took the field on April 26, defeating Lafayette 13-12 as sophomore attackman Andrew Kelly scored the game-winning goal with 2:48 remaining. Lehigh's one-goal victory marked one of four games this season that have been decided by one goal and the Mountain Hawks have been on the winning side of all of them. Ten of Lehigh's 14 games have been decided by one or two goals.Â
Not only did Kelly score the game-winning goal, but he tied his career-high in points (2G, 2A) in the game against the Leopards. Second team All-Patriot League honoree Quinn Armstrong also finished with four points (3G, 1A). Armstrong has recorded 26 goals this season, which is second on the team behind first team All-Patriot League selection Scott Cole. Armstrong has also recorded a hat trick in Lehigh's last four games.Â
Cole leads the way with a team-high of 42 points after notching 35 goals while tallying seven assists. Cole has a chance to make history this weekend, needing three goals to tie Mark Duncan '98 and Dan Taylor '15 for the most goals in program history (128). If Cole scores four goals, he will become the program's all-time leading goal scorer. Throughout his career, Cole has recorded 125 goals and 45 assists.Â
Friday night will be a battle at the stripe as it will feature second team All-Patriot League honorees Sean Dow and Zach Hayashi. Dow has won 63% of his battles at the faceoff "x" in league games, which is second in the Patriot League while Hayashi is right behind Dow, winning 58% of his attempts during league play.Â
Navy's specialists were a big reason why the Midshipmen won the quarterfinal matchup. Hayashi won 18-of-26 attempts at the stripe against Loyola and goalkeeper Dan Daly tallied a career-high 18 saves.Â
Xavier Airline leads Navy with 38 points (21G, 17A). Second team All-Patriot League honoree Luke McAuliffe guarded Airline in the first meeting this season, holding him to zero points. McAuliffe has had a breakout season in the brown and white, recording 13 caused turnovers, which is the second most on the team behind first team All-Patriot League selection Richard Checo.Â
Checo has had another incredible season, recording 33 caused turnovers this season. Checo's 2.36 caused turnovers per game are the third most in the NCAA.Â
While Navy leads the all-time series 33-14, the Mountain Hawks have won the last eight meetings with the most recent coming in a 12-10 victory on March 9. Kelly (4G) and Grant Rodny (3G) combined for seven of Lehigh's 12 goals in the first meeting this season while Dakota Eierman (1G), Armstrong (1G), Cole (1G), Hunter Polonkey (1G) and Brian Mullen (1G) also tallied a goal apiece.Â
Senior goalkeeper Nick Pecora stood on his head in the first meeting, tying his career-high of 16 saves, which he set last season against Navy. Pecora owns a 52% save percentage in net.Â
The last time Lehigh and Navy met in the Patriot League Tournament was in a quarterfinal matchup on May 3, 2022, where the Mountain Hawks defeated the Midshipmen 14-8. Lehigh is 3-2 all-time against Navy in the Patriot League Tournament.Â
If the Mountain Hawks win on Friday, they will play in the Patriot League Championship on Sunday at 12 p.m. against the winner of Army and Boston University. The championship game will also air on CBS Sports Network.Â
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The Mountain Hawks ended the regular season with an 8-6 record and a 6-2 Patriot League record. Lehigh also capped off the regular season with a four-game win streak to help seal the No. 2 seed in the tournament. The Midshipmen finished league play with a 5-3 record and earned a spot in the quarterfinals as the three seed, where they rolled to a 12-10 victory over Loyola. Navy's quarterfinal win marked its first win in the Patriot League Tournament since 2010. Â
Lehigh last took the field on April 26, defeating Lafayette 13-12 as sophomore attackman Andrew Kelly scored the game-winning goal with 2:48 remaining. Lehigh's one-goal victory marked one of four games this season that have been decided by one goal and the Mountain Hawks have been on the winning side of all of them. Ten of Lehigh's 14 games have been decided by one or two goals.Â
Not only did Kelly score the game-winning goal, but he tied his career-high in points (2G, 2A) in the game against the Leopards. Second team All-Patriot League honoree Quinn Armstrong also finished with four points (3G, 1A). Armstrong has recorded 26 goals this season, which is second on the team behind first team All-Patriot League selection Scott Cole. Armstrong has also recorded a hat trick in Lehigh's last four games.Â
Cole leads the way with a team-high of 42 points after notching 35 goals while tallying seven assists. Cole has a chance to make history this weekend, needing three goals to tie Mark Duncan '98 and Dan Taylor '15 for the most goals in program history (128). If Cole scores four goals, he will become the program's all-time leading goal scorer. Throughout his career, Cole has recorded 125 goals and 45 assists.Â
Friday night will be a battle at the stripe as it will feature second team All-Patriot League honorees Sean Dow and Zach Hayashi. Dow has won 63% of his battles at the faceoff "x" in league games, which is second in the Patriot League while Hayashi is right behind Dow, winning 58% of his attempts during league play.Â
Navy's specialists were a big reason why the Midshipmen won the quarterfinal matchup. Hayashi won 18-of-26 attempts at the stripe against Loyola and goalkeeper Dan Daly tallied a career-high 18 saves.Â
Xavier Airline leads Navy with 38 points (21G, 17A). Second team All-Patriot League honoree Luke McAuliffe guarded Airline in the first meeting this season, holding him to zero points. McAuliffe has had a breakout season in the brown and white, recording 13 caused turnovers, which is the second most on the team behind first team All-Patriot League selection Richard Checo.Â
Checo has had another incredible season, recording 33 caused turnovers this season. Checo's 2.36 caused turnovers per game are the third most in the NCAA.Â
While Navy leads the all-time series 33-14, the Mountain Hawks have won the last eight meetings with the most recent coming in a 12-10 victory on March 9. Kelly (4G) and Grant Rodny (3G) combined for seven of Lehigh's 12 goals in the first meeting this season while Dakota Eierman (1G), Armstrong (1G), Cole (1G), Hunter Polonkey (1G) and Brian Mullen (1G) also tallied a goal apiece.Â
Senior goalkeeper Nick Pecora stood on his head in the first meeting, tying his career-high of 16 saves, which he set last season against Navy. Pecora owns a 52% save percentage in net.Â
The last time Lehigh and Navy met in the Patriot League Tournament was in a quarterfinal matchup on May 3, 2022, where the Mountain Hawks defeated the Midshipmen 14-8. Lehigh is 3-2 all-time against Navy in the Patriot League Tournament.Â
If the Mountain Hawks win on Friday, they will play in the Patriot League Championship on Sunday at 12 p.m. against the winner of Army and Boston University. The championship game will also air on CBS Sports Network.Â
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