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BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Coming off a top 10 win at Army Saturday, the No. 19 Lehigh men’s lacrosse team will vie for a top-five win on Saturday as the Mountain Hawks host No. 5 Georgetown. Gametime is set for 1 pm on ESPN+ and it will be an American Boy Project Awareness Game (to learn more about the 501(c)3 organization built to advocate for families struggling with addiction and substance abuse, please click here). Lehigh has had a number of ranked victories over the years, but will be searching for its first top-five victory since 2012 and first-ever top-five win at home. Saturday also features a pair of teams who advanced to the 2021 NCAA Tournament.
The Mountain Hawks certainly are entering Saturday with a lot of momentum, following an 11-10 win over No. 9 Army West Point. In that game, Lehigh jumped out to a 4-0 lead less than nine minutes in. The Black Knights responded with four in a row, but Lehigh never trailed. Senior Cole Kirst’s third goal put Lehigh ahead 5-4 at the half, an advantage that eventually extended to 9-5 after three quarters of play. Army pulled within one three times in the fourth, but the Mountain Hawks always had an answer, wrapping up their second straight win at Army and fourth win in their last five tries overall against the Black Knights.
Lehigh also improved to 9-8 over its last 17 games in the all-time series (after going 2-18 over the first 20 meetings). The Mountain Hawks also improved to 3-0 in the Patriot League for a fourth straight season (not counting 2020, which was cut short after just two league games). It was Lehigh’s 14th straight win against a Patriot League opponent (13th straight in the regular season). The Mountain Hawks’ last league defeat came in 2019.
Kirst led the offense with a career-high tying four goals (a figure originally set last year vs. Army). Sophomore Scott Cole added three goals for his fourth-career hat trick while senior Tommy Schelling, junior Christian Mule’ and first year Dakota Eierman all had a goal and assist. Defensively, senior Anthony Tangredi caused two turnovers while graduate student Teddy Leggett played strong defense against Army All-American Brendan Nietner, holding him to just one point (an assist) through three quarters. Fellow grad student James Spence made 10 saves in goal, giving him 568 career saves to move past former All-American Matt Poillon for third in program history. Spence also collected three groundballs to move to 101 in his career.
Senior Mike Sisselberger impressed facing off, winning 17-of-25 with seven groundballs, including a huge win after Army pulled within 11-10, allowing the Mountain Hawks to run out the clock.
The Hoyas enter the weekend 6-1 with their only loss coming to Princeton (who is now ranked No. 2 in the IL/Media Poll) by a 10-8 final. Georgetown finished last season 13-3, winning the Big East Championship then beating Syracuse in the NCAA Tournament before falling to Virginia. Seven different Hoyas were named Inside Lacrosse Preseason All-Americans, the second most of any program (only behind Maryland’s eight). Preseason first team All-American Graham Bundy Jr. currently leads the team with 26 points via 18 goals and eight assists. Dylan Watson leads the team in goals (22). Another preseason first team All-American Will Bowen leads the defense with 16 caused turnovers. James Reilly has won 99-of-149 faceoffs (66.4 percent) with 60 groundballs. Owen McElroy was another preseason first teamer, and currently owns an 8.28 goals against average and 62.9 save percentage. Both figures are good for second in the nation.
Georgetown leads the all-time series with Lehigh, 3-2, with the most recent meeting coming in 2014. The Mountain Hawks won that contest in dominant fashion, 12-3, in a neutral site game in Folsom, Pa. as part of the second annual Relentless Cup in support of the HEADstrong Foundation’s fight against blood cancers. Lehigh has won two of the last three meetings against the Hoyas, also winning on May 3, 1997 – 11-10. The teams played every season from 1995-98, with the other meeting coming 16 years later in that 2014 showdown. Georgetown won the first-ever meeting between the sides, 15-5 on May 6, 1995.
After Saturday’s game, the Mountain Hawks hit the road on Tuesday for a midweek matchup at Binghamton. Game time is set for 5 pm
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