Phillylactrosse.com, Posted 4/5/21 – From Press Release
Following a thrilling 13-12 win over No. 7 Army West Point on Saturday, Lehigh men’s lacrosse juniors Michael Sisselberger (Southern Lehigh) and Cole Kirst each won weekly awards, garnering Patriot League Offensive Player and Faceoff Specialist of the Week, as announced on Monday. Kirst scored a career-high four goals, including the game-winner with just 2:02 remaining, while Sisselberger won 23-of-27 faceoffs with 14 groundballs in a dominant effort.
With the score tied at 12, Kirst put home his fourth to give Lehigh a 13-12 lead, which proved to be the final. Kirst scored three of Lehigh’s first five goals on the day, helping lead the Mountain Hawks to a 6-5 halftime advantage. He also added three groundballs. It marked Kirst’s third straight hat trick.
Saturday marked Sisselberger’s career highs in faceoffs won and taken. Army’s top faceoff specialist Stevie Grabher (and the reigning Patriot League Faceoff Specialist of the Week) was just 1-of-13 against Sisselberger. Sisselberger won all five first-quarter goals, 12-of-13 in the first half and 15 of the first 16 for the game. He is currently leading the nation in faceoff win percentage at 77.6 (next closest is 72.2), while collecting groundballs.
Following Saturday’s win, the Mountain Hawks are up to No. 7 in the Inside Lacrosse/Media Poll and No. 8 in the USILA and Nike/US Lacrosse Poll. Lehigh will remain home on Saturday to host a ranked Navy squad at 4 p.m. on ESPN+.
NCAA Division I Faceoff Percentage Leaders through April 4
Rank, Name, School, Year, Games, FOWon, FOLost, FOTaken, PCT
1 Mike Sisselberger (Southern Lehigh) Lehigh Jr. 5 90 26 116 .776
2 Kyle Gallagher Notre Dame Sr. 6 65 25 90 .722
3 Matt Soutar (Lenape) Monmouth So. 5 72 28 100 .720
4 Zach Cole (Lenape) Saint Joseph’s So. 7 115 50 165 .697
5 Tommy Burke Vermont So. 7 114 51 165 .691
6 Adam Shea Hobart So. 4 59 29 88 .670
7 Jake Naso Duke Fr. 10 136 68 204 .667
8 Alex Jarzembowski Detroit Mercy Sr. 5 74 38 112 .661
9 Petey LaSalla Virginia Jr. 10 156 82 293 .655
10 Brian Herber Hofstra Sr. 7 93 50 143 .650
11 Alec Stathakis Denver So. 10 139 76 215 .647
12 Matthew DeSouza Binghamton So. 5 62 34 96 .646
13 James Reilly (Conestoga) Georgetown Jr. 8 89 51 140 .636
