Saturday, February 22
Bethlehem, Pa.
12:00 PM
Lehigh University
0-4
8
vs
9
University of Richmond
3-1
1
2
3
4
F
Richmond
3
1
3
2
9
Lehigh
3
1
3
1
8
Lehigh Falls Short in 9-8 Loss to No. 12/13 Richmond
2/22/2025 4:46:00 PM | Men's Lacrosse
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Lehigh and No. 12/13 Richmond battled in a tight, back-and-forth contest Saturday with the visiting Spiders using a 4-0 second-half run to edge the Mountain Hawks 9-8, at the Ulrich Sports Complex. The Mountain Hawks raced to a 3-1 first-quarter lead and held a pair of two-goal leads in the third quarter, but a scoring drought of nearly 21 minutes allowed Richmond to rally for their third win.
Max Merklinger opened the scoring for the visitors just under two minutes into the contest, but Lehigh answered with three consecutive goals to take a 3-1 lead. First-year Luke Breslin gave Lehigh a 2-1 lead with an unassisted tally and then fed junior Grant Rodny for Lehigh's third goal of the day.
Richmond answered with a three-goal run, with Lukas Olsson scoring twice to tie the game at 3-3 after the first quarter and then Lucas Littlejohn put the Spiders ahead with the first of his three goals early in the second quarter.
The only other goal in the second quarter came from Lehigh first-year Charlie Sherman as the teams went into halftime tied 4-4.
The Mountain Hawks went back in front two and a half minutes into the third quarter on a goal by sophomore Luke Winkler and went up by two on a spectacular diving effort by first-year Chris Rathwell on a rebound in front of the crease.
Olsson completed his hat trick with a man-up goal before junior EJ Vasile scored to give the Mountain Hawks a 7-5 lead. Aidan O'Neal scored to bring Richmond within 7-6 and then assisted on Littlejohn's second goal, which tied the game at 7-7 after three quarters.
Littlejohn completed his hat trick early in the fourth to give Richmond the lead 8-7 and Daniel Picart scored to give the Spiders a two-goal lead. Despite having possession from a 4-0 faceoff advantage in the fourth quarter, Lehigh was kept off the board until senior Dakota Eierman's tally with 35 seconds remaining. The Mountain Hawks won the ensuing faceoff, but could not get a good look at goal as time expired.
Winkler, Breslin, Sherman and Rodny all had a goal and an assist to lead Lehigh offensively. Sherman added three ground balls and a caused turnover.
Senior Sean Dow was outstanding at the faceoff "x" winning 15-of-20 draws and securing 11 ground balls.
In goal, sophomore Kasey Heath made 16 saves.
Olsson, Littlejohn and O'Neil all had three points to lead Richmond (3-1). Connor Kelly had four ground balls and three caused turnovers, while goalkeeper Zach Vigue made 13 saves.
Shots favored Richmond 39-32, while Lehigh won the ground ball battle 34-30. Lehigh turned the ball over 17 times and was 18-for-18 on clears.
The Mountain Hawks will travel to Villanova on Friday for a 4 p.m. faceoff against the Wildcats.
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Max Merklinger opened the scoring for the visitors just under two minutes into the contest, but Lehigh answered with three consecutive goals to take a 3-1 lead. First-year Luke Breslin gave Lehigh a 2-1 lead with an unassisted tally and then fed junior Grant Rodny for Lehigh's third goal of the day.
Richmond answered with a three-goal run, with Lukas Olsson scoring twice to tie the game at 3-3 after the first quarter and then Lucas Littlejohn put the Spiders ahead with the first of his three goals early in the second quarter.
The only other goal in the second quarter came from Lehigh first-year Charlie Sherman as the teams went into halftime tied 4-4.
The Mountain Hawks went back in front two and a half minutes into the third quarter on a goal by sophomore Luke Winkler and went up by two on a spectacular diving effort by first-year Chris Rathwell on a rebound in front of the crease.
Olsson completed his hat trick with a man-up goal before junior EJ Vasile scored to give the Mountain Hawks a 7-5 lead. Aidan O'Neal scored to bring Richmond within 7-6 and then assisted on Littlejohn's second goal, which tied the game at 7-7 after three quarters.
Littlejohn completed his hat trick early in the fourth to give Richmond the lead 8-7 and Daniel Picart scored to give the Spiders a two-goal lead. Despite having possession from a 4-0 faceoff advantage in the fourth quarter, Lehigh was kept off the board until senior Dakota Eierman's tally with 35 seconds remaining. The Mountain Hawks won the ensuing faceoff, but could not get a good look at goal as time expired.
Winkler, Breslin, Sherman and Rodny all had a goal and an assist to lead Lehigh offensively. Sherman added three ground balls and a caused turnover.
Senior Sean Dow was outstanding at the faceoff "x" winning 15-of-20 draws and securing 11 ground balls.
In goal, sophomore Kasey Heath made 16 saves.
Olsson, Littlejohn and O'Neil all had three points to lead Richmond (3-1). Connor Kelly had four ground balls and three caused turnovers, while goalkeeper Zach Vigue made 13 saves.
Shots favored Richmond 39-32, while Lehigh won the ground ball battle 34-30. Lehigh turned the ball over 17 times and was 18-for-18 on clears.
The Mountain Hawks will travel to Villanova on Friday for a 4 p.m. faceoff against the Wildcats.
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Team Stats
RIC
LEHIGH
Shots
39
32
Turnovers
11
17
Caused Turnovers
7
6
Faceoffs Won
5
15
Extra-Man Opps
4
1
Ground Balls
30
34
Game Leaders
Players
G
1
A
1
FO
-
Pen
-
GB
0
CT
0
G
1
A
0
FO
-
Pen
-
GB
1
CT
0
G
1
A
0
FO
-
Pen
-
GB
1
CT
0
G
1
A
1
FO
-
Pen
-
GB
0
CT
0
Players Mentioned
A
/ Men's Lacrosse
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/ Men's Lacrosse
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/ Men's LacrosseM
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/ Men's Lacrosse
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