Lehigh Falls to Rutgers in Season Opener

BETHLEHEM, Pa. - No. 20 Lehigh men's lacrosse opened up the 2025 campaign with a 10-6 loss to Rutgers Saturday afternoon at Ulrich Sports Complex. The Mountain Hawks dropped to 1-0 and the Scarlet Knights improved to 1-0.

"Proud of our guys' effort today, but our play was entirely too sloppy," said head coach Will Scudder. "You just cannot expect to win a game with 10 failed clears and 20-plus turnovers."

Senior midfielder Dakota Eierman opened up the scoring five minutes into the game but Rutgers scored three unanswered goals to take a 3-1 lead. The Scarlet Knights would hold their lead for the remainder of the game.

Senior faceoff specialist Sean Dow responded with a goal to cut Lehigh's deficit to one with six minutes left in the first quarter, but the Mountain Hawks were never able to claw back from the early deficit.

Rutgers led 6-4 at halftime. The Scarlet Knights opened the second half on a 2-0 run to take a four-goal lead, their largest lead of the game.

Junior attackman Andrew Kelly went on to score back-to-back goals to pull Lehigh within two, but Rutgers ended the game on a 2-0 run to secure a four-goal win. Kelly and first-year attackman Luke Breslin both finished with a team-high two goals.

Turnovers proved to be the difference on Saturday as Lehigh committed 22. The Scarlet Knights finished with 16 turnovers. The Mountain Hawks also struggled to clear the ball, going 12-of-22.

Making his first collegiate start in net, sophomore goalkeeper Kasey Heath tallied a game-high of 12 saves. Rutgers' Cardin Stoller finished with 10 saves.

Dow finished the game going 11-of-20 from the stripe. Sophomore faceoff specialist Connor RIley went 1-of-1 at the faceoff "x."

Defensively, junior Richard Checo tallied a game-high of three caused turnovers.

Colin Kelly finished with a game-high of three goals to lead the way for Rutgers.

"I am excited to get back to work tomorrow and start preparing for Fairfield," Scudder said.

Next up, Lehigh will face Fairfield for its first road test on Feb. 7 at 5 p.m. Friday's game will be aired on FloSports.

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Team Stats

Luke Breslin

Andrew Kelly

Dakota Eierman

Sean Dow

Players Mentioned

Luke Breslin

Richard Checo

Sean Dow

Dakota Eierman

Kasey Heath

Andrew Kelly

Players Mentioned

Luke Breslin

Richard Checo

Sean Dow

Dakota Eierman

Kasey Heath

Andrew Kelly

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