Saturday, February 15
Bethlehem, Pa.
11:00 AM
Lehigh University
10
vs
18
Cornell University
Mountain Hawks overcome by Early Deficit in Loss to No. 3 Cornell
2/15/2025 6:10:00 PM | Men's Lacrosse
BETHLEHEM, Pa. - Lehigh men's lacrosse was battle-tested against No. 3 Cornell Saturday morning at the Ulrich Sports Complex, suffering an 18-10 loss to fall to 0-3 on the season. The Big Red were victorious in their season opener.
"First and foremost, you have to give a ton of credit to Cornell," said head coach Will Scudder. "That is a very good team that plays extremely hard. The score does not necessarily reflect this, but I felt that our team got better last week and it translated during the game. We had fewer turnovers and continue to improve in our clearing game."
Senior midfielder Dakota Eierman opened the scoring 51 seconds into the game for the Mountain Hawks, but Lehigh's lead would be short-lived with the Big Red, scoring the next two goals. Junior attackman EJ Vasile pulled Lehigh within one goal, scoring a man-up goal, but the Big Red retook a two-goal lead eight seconds later and were able to hold onto a multiple-point lead for the remainder of the game.
Cornell's early lead helped lift the Big Red to a victory on Saturday. The Big Red scored five goals in each of the first two quarters to take a 10-5 lead at halftime. Cornell continued its hot scoring in the third quarter, using a 6-3 run in the third period to take a 16-8 lead headed into the fourth quarter.
While Lehigh held Cornell to a quarter-low two goals in the fourth quarter the Mountain Hawks offense was also held to two goals.
Eierman and sophomore Luke Winkler finished with a team-high three points on two goals and an assist. Winkler also netted his first collegiate goal with 7:58 remaining in the second quarter.
Sophomore goalkeeper Kasey Heath had a career-high game for the second straight week, recording 20 saves. While Heath stopped a game-high 20 saves, Cornell outshot Lehigh 54-40. The Big Red also held a 34-20 advantage in shots on goal.
"I was extremely proud of Kasey Heath," Scudder said. "Tremendous effort. He is playing at a very high level right now. We will need him to continue to play like that."
Wyatt Knust tallied 14 saves for the Big Red. Cornell was led by Michael Long, who finished with a game-high of seven points (3G, 4A).
Cornell won the faceoff battle, going 20-of-32 from the stripe. Senior faceoff specialist Sean Dow went 7-of-19 from the dot, sophomore Connor Riley won 4-of-10 faceoffs and junior Johnny Kidd won 1-of-3 battles at the stripe.
Junior defenseman Richard Checo finished with two caused turnovers and has recorded multiple caused turnovers in each of Lehigh's three games this season.
Next up, Lehigh will host Richmond on Feb. 22 at 12 p.m. Saturday's game will be broadcast on ESPN+.
"First and foremost, you have to give a ton of credit to Cornell," said head coach Will Scudder. "That is a very good team that plays extremely hard. The score does not necessarily reflect this, but I felt that our team got better last week and it translated during the game. We had fewer turnovers and continue to improve in our clearing game."
Senior midfielder Dakota Eierman opened the scoring 51 seconds into the game for the Mountain Hawks, but Lehigh's lead would be short-lived with the Big Red, scoring the next two goals. Junior attackman EJ Vasile pulled Lehigh within one goal, scoring a man-up goal, but the Big Red retook a two-goal lead eight seconds later and were able to hold onto a multiple-point lead for the remainder of the game.
Cornell's early lead helped lift the Big Red to a victory on Saturday. The Big Red scored five goals in each of the first two quarters to take a 10-5 lead at halftime. Cornell continued its hot scoring in the third quarter, using a 6-3 run in the third period to take a 16-8 lead headed into the fourth quarter.
While Lehigh held Cornell to a quarter-low two goals in the fourth quarter the Mountain Hawks offense was also held to two goals.
Eierman and sophomore Luke Winkler finished with a team-high three points on two goals and an assist. Winkler also netted his first collegiate goal with 7:58 remaining in the second quarter.
Sophomore goalkeeper Kasey Heath had a career-high game for the second straight week, recording 20 saves. While Heath stopped a game-high 20 saves, Cornell outshot Lehigh 54-40. The Big Red also held a 34-20 advantage in shots on goal.
"I was extremely proud of Kasey Heath," Scudder said. "Tremendous effort. He is playing at a very high level right now. We will need him to continue to play like that."
Wyatt Knust tallied 14 saves for the Big Red. Cornell was led by Michael Long, who finished with a game-high of seven points (3G, 4A).
Cornell won the faceoff battle, going 20-of-32 from the stripe. Senior faceoff specialist Sean Dow went 7-of-19 from the dot, sophomore Connor Riley won 4-of-10 faceoffs and junior Johnny Kidd won 1-of-3 battles at the stripe.
Junior defenseman Richard Checo finished with two caused turnovers and has recorded multiple caused turnovers in each of Lehigh's three games this season.
Next up, Lehigh will host Richmond on Feb. 22 at 12 p.m. Saturday's game will be broadcast on ESPN+.
Game Leaders
G
2
A
1
FO
-
Pen
-
GB
0
CT
0
G
2
A
1
FO
-
Pen
-
GB
1
CT
0
G
2
A
0
FO
-
Pen
-
GB
0
CT
0
G
1
A
1
FO
-
Pen
-
GB
0
CT
0
Players Mentioned
D
/ Men's Lacrosse
M
/ Men's Lacrosse
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/ Men's Lacrosse
FO/M
/ Men's Lacrosse
FO
/ Men's Lacrosse
M
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