Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 5/5/24
From Press Release
For the fourth time in program history and first time since 2013, the Lehigh men’s lacrosse team has captured the Patriot League Championship, as the No. 2 seed Mountain Hawks defeated fourth-seeded Boston University 11-10 today in the championship game at Army’s Michie Stadium.
The win secures the Mountain Hawks a spot in the NCAA Tournament for the fourth time and the first time since 2021. Lehigh will find out who it plays in the NCAA Tournament Sunday night at 9:30 p.m. as ESPN2 will host the selection show.
The win also gave Haverford School grad and first-year head coach Will Scudder a rivalry victory over BU coach Ryan Polley, a Malvern Prep grad. Scudder, a Lehigh grad himself, graduated a year before the Mountain Hawks won back-to-back Patriot titles in 2012-13.
Lehigh scored the game’s final four goals and held the Terriers scoreless for the final 14:45 of the game. The Mountain Hawks trailed 10-7 after Brendan Kelly recorded two straight goals at the end of the third and start of the fourth quarters.
Scott Cole scored his first goal of the day with 11:03 remaining in the fourth quarter and Lehigh would go on to score three more goals. Cole also made history with his first and only goal of the day as he became the all-time leading goal scorer in program history with 129 career goals, breaking the mark of 128 held since 1998 by former Shipley School coach Mark Duncan (tied by 2015 grad Dan Taylor) .
Dakota Eierman and Andrew Kelly (La Salle) scored the game’s next two goals and then Quinn Armstrong went to the top-left corner of the net, notching his third goal of the day and the game-winning goal with 1:29 remaining. Sean Dow then won the biggest faceoff of the day to maintain possession. Lehigh turned it over with 13 seconds remaining, but the Mountain Hawks were able to keep Boston University from scoring the game-tying goal in the final seconds.
Dow won 12-of-20 possessions while also picking up nine ground balls. He also landed a spot on the All-Tournament Team alongside Cole, Richard Checo and Luke McAuliffe, who was named the MVP. McAuliffe recorded a caused turnover and five ground balls in Sunday’s championship game.
Armstrong (3G), Eierman (3G), and Kelly (2G, 2A) all recorded multiple goals. Freddie Amato and Hunter Polonkey also scored for the Mountain Hawks.
Matt Fritz (Wissahickon) won 8 of 20 faceoffs for the Terriers while Kelly led with three goals.
The championship game certainly delivered as there were four ties and five lead changes. The Terriers opened the game on a 3-0 run, but the Mountain Hawks scored the next four goals to take their first lead of the game. Boston University answered right back with two goals to take a 5-4 lead going into halftime. The second half was a back and forth affair, but the Mountain Hawks were able to hold on strong in the second half to secure the Patriot League Championship.
Defensively, Richard Checo had a game-high of four caused turnovers. Checo also has 99 career caused turnovers, which is the second-most in program history.
Nick Pecora tallied eight saves in net while also picking up two ground balls. Will Barnes finished with 10 saves for Boston University.
Brendan Kelly recorded a hat trick to lead the way for the Terriers.
Lehigh enters the NCAA Tournament having won six straight games to move to 10-6 on the season.
