Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 11/19/18
From Press Release
With the 2019 season opener now less than three months away, Lehigh head men’s lacrosse coach Kevin Cassese announced the Mountain Hawks’ 2019 captains on Monday. Seniors Craig Chick, Andrew Pettit (Tower Hill, DE) and Chris Kiernan will all serve as captains, with Eddie Bouhall and Lucas Spence (Springfield-Delco) holding the role of assistant captains.
“I am excited about the five young men who were selected to serve as captains for the 2019 season,” said Cassese. “We have had success with this leadership structure in previous years (including last year) and I believe it will serve the team well this season. Having five seniors serve as captains makes a great deal of sense for this team. This senior class has been instrumental in the program’s development over the past three years. It is a group with tremendous influence that has many individuals with outstanding leadership qualities, even beyond the five that were selected as captains. I look forward to working with these captains, this senior class and this team to accomplish our mission and achieve our goals.”
Chick and Pettit were both named first team All-Patriot League honorees last season, with Chick earning two All-America honors – second team by Inside Lacrosse and honorable mention by the USILA. Chick already owns the school and Patriot League record for career caused turnovers (118), with a chance to break the NCAA all-time record of 158. Chick posted 37 caused turnovers as a freshman, 40 as a sophomore and 41 as a junior. Meanwhile, Pettit led the Mountain Hawks in goals (46) and points (66) last season, those totals good for fourth and ninth in school history, respectively. He finished 10th nationally in goals per game (2.71) and 20th in points per contest (3.88). Pettit’s 10 man-up goals were third in the country.
Rounding out Lehigh’s captains is goaltender Chris Kiernan. Kiernan only played in five games last season, but is extremely well-respected amongst his teammates. Kiernan started nine games as a freshman (posting an 11.60 GAA and 0.480 save percentage) before starting eight as a sophomore (9.73 GAA and 0.510 save percentage).
Lehigh’s assistant captains, Bouhall and Spence, were both All-Patriot League honorees last season. Bouhall tallied 41 groundballs and 24 caused turnovers as part of a defense which allowed single-digit goals in 10-of-17 contests. Spence finished the season second on the Mountain Hawks in goals (35), assists (23) and points (58), none bigger than his game-winning overtime goal in the Patriot League Semifinals against No. 11/13 Navy.
The Mountain Hawks return plenty of talent in 2019. Seniors Pettit, Spence and Tristan Rai return at attack after combining for 172 points last season (104 goals, 68 assists). Lehigh’s leading defensemen all return, as Chick (50 groundballs, 41 caused turnovers), sophomore Teddy Leggett (61 groundballs, 20 caused turnovers) and Bouhall (41 groundballs, 24 caused turnovers) combined for 152 groundballs and 85 caused turnovers a season ago. Junior Conor Gaffney won 59.4 percent of his draws last season (214-of-360) with 101 groundballs while sophomore James Spence tallied a 9.03 goals against average and 49.8 save percentage in goal.
