Lehigh Downs Navy 12-8 In Patriot League Semifinal, Advances to Patriot League Championship

Friday, May 3

West Point, N.Y.

7:00 PM

Lehigh University

9-6

Navy

9-7

Team	1	2	3	4	Final F
NAVY	3	1	1	3	8
LEHIGH	2	3	3	4	12

Lehigh Downs Navy 12-8 In Patriot League Semifinal, Advances to Patriot League Championship

5/3/2024 10:36:00 PM | Men's Lacrosse

Box Score

WEST POINT N.Y. - Second-seeded Lehigh men's lacrosse used a 6-0 second-half run to help propel the Mountain Hawks to a 12-8 victory over No. 3 seed Navy in a Patriot League Semifinal Friday night at Michie Stadium. The Mountain Hawks will play in the Patriot League Championship on Sunday against fourth-seeded Boston University. Game time is set for 12 p.m. and will be aired on CBS Network.

While Lehigh advanced to the Patriot League Championship in 2021, it was canceled due to COVID-19 protocols, so Sunday will mark the first appearance in the Patriot League Championship since 2019 when the Mountain Hawks faced Army.

"The guys committed to the game plan," said head coach Will Scudder. "They played a very tough game. I am proud of their effort, but I want to give all the credit to Navy. I think that's a really tough team and a really tough senior class. I am happy and proud of their effort."

Friday's game featured six lead changes and five ties, but the difference would be the second half.

Lehigh held a 5-4 lead going into halftime. After a scoring drought by both teams, the Midshipmen tied things at five with 6:38 remaining in the third quarter. Dakota Eierman responded 50 seconds later to put the Mountain Hawks up 6-5, and Lehigh would remain in control for the remainder of the game. Lehigh held Navy's offense scoreless for 15 minutes across the third and fourth quarters.

Part of that was due to sophomore defenseman Richard Checo, who wreaked havoc on Navy's offense, recording eight caused turnovers, which ties an NCAA single-game record. Checo also picked up a game-high of eight ground balls.

"'We are trying to put him in position to be the best version of himself," Scudder said. "We were mixing up zone and man, and we really worked on the zone with him this week to try to do things a little bit differently, and I thought he executed it really well, so I was proud of him."

John Schofield (1CT) and Giovanni Procaccini (1CT) had the other two caused turnovers for Lehigh.

Nine different players recorded a point on Friday led by Scott Cole, who finished with a team-high of four points (3G, 1A). Cole also tied Mark Duncan '98 and Dan Taylor '15 for the most goals in program history (128). Dakota Eierman (2G, 1A), Quinn Armstrong (2G, 1A), Grant Rodny (2G), Andrew Kelly (1G, 1A), Hunter Polonkey (1G) and Peter Theodoropoulos (1G) all recorded goals for the Mountain Hawks.

Sean Dow gave Lehigh the possession advantage, going 13-of-24 from the stripe while also picking up seven ground balls. Navy's Zach Hayashi won 11-of-22 attempts at the faceoff "x". Lehigh held a 31-28 advantage in shots and a 29-26 advantage in ground balls.

"Faceoff and wing play was the difference," Scudder said. " Sean Dow has really turned it around the second half of the season, and I'm really proud of him and the rope unit. I felt like that is what allowed us to go on the run."

Nick Pecora finished with a game-high of 10 saves. Pecora came up big in the first quarter, making five of his 10 saves in the first 15 minutes of action. Navy goalkeeper Dan Daly finished with seven saves.
Henry Tolker led the way for Navy with three goals.

Friday's game featured 11 total penalties. Lehigh went 3-of-4 from extra-man opportunities while the Midshipmen went 4-of-7 from extra-man opportunities.
The Mountain Hawks enter Sunday's championship game at 9-6 overall, having won five straight games.