BETHLEHEM, Pa. – After a road win at Furman, the #19 Lehigh men’s lacrosse team returns home for its Patriot League opener as the Mountain Hawks welcome Boston University on Saturday. Opening faceoff at the Ulrich Sports Complex has been moved to 12 p.m. (from the originally-scheduled 1 p.m.) due to snow forecast later in the afternoon. Saturday marks the earliest league opener in program history, beating last year’s Feb. 22 game against the Terriers by one day.
Lehigh is eying its fifth straight Patriot League opening victory. Owning a 16-8 all-time record in league openers, the Mountain Hawks last lost their opener in 2010, 9-3 at Navy. They responded by beating Navy to open league play in 2011 (14-10), beating Army in 2012 (7-6), topping Army in 2013 (10-6) and defeating Boston University last season (10-7).
Lehigh is coming off a hard-fought 14-11 win at Furman last Saturday. A game of runs saw the Mountain Hawks outscore the Paladins 8-4 bridging the end of the first and third quarters as Lehigh turned a 3-2 deficit into a 10-7 lead following a highlight-reel goal from senior Dan Taylor with four seconds left in the third. However, Furman responded with the first four fourth-quarter goals, but Lehigh came right back with the tying goal (from Taylor) and go-ahead goal (from junior Billy Oppenheimer) to make it 12-11 Mountain Hawks. Lehigh added two more insurance goals for the 14-11 final.
Taylor was the story offensively, posting a career-high 10 points via five goals and a career-high five assists. For his efforts, he was honored with Patriot League Offensive Player of the Week laurels, the fourth time in the last five weeks (dating back to last season) that he’s won the award. Taylor is up to 15 points this season (eight goals, seven assists); his 7.5 points per game are second nationally and tops among players who have played multiple games. Sophomore Reid Weber tied a career-high five points (three goals, two assists), good for his fifth-career hat trick. Oppenheimer and senior Kurtis Kaunas each added two goals.
Junior Casey Eidenshink helped lead the defense, tallying six groundballs and a caused turnover. He played a crucial role on the faceoff wing while his caused turnover led directly to a third-quarter transition goal from Taylor. Senior Lukas Mikelinich added two groundballs and a game-high three caused turnovers. Senior Matt Poillon made nine saves between the pipes while sophomore Casey McAdam won 13-of-24 faceoffs. In the end, Lehigh won its first road game of the season for the fourth straight year.
Boston University is off to a hot start, owning a 2-0 record behind a dominant 18-6 win over Mercer and 13-9 victory vs. Canisius. Through two games, Jack Wilson leads the team in scoring with seven goals and nine points. Ryan Hilburn is tied for the lead in points with nine behind two goals and a team-high seven assists. Cal Dearth has eight points (five goals, three assists) while Adam Schaal owns seven (four goals, three assists). Sam Talkow has been dominant at the faceoff X, winning 32-of-49 (65.3 percent) so far this season with a team-high 17 groundballs. Greg Wozniak also has 13 groundballs and a team-high seven caused turnovers while Christian Carson has posted a 7.29 GAA and .622 save percentage between the pipes. Saturday will mark the Terriers’ first road game of the season. Boston University is receiving votes in the Cascade/Maverik media poll as six different Patriot League teams are receiving votes in the media and/or coaches poll.
Saturday will mark the second-ever meeting between Lehigh and Boston University. The Terriers’ first year as a program was in 2014. The Mountain Hawks defeated Boston U in the first-ever meeting, 10-7. A six-goal second quarter proved crucial as Lehigh took an 8-4 lead into halftime.
Following Saturday’s game, the Mountain Hawks will head to Loyola next Saturday (Feb. 28) for a big early-season game at #8 Loyola in a rematch of the 2014 Patriot League Championship Game. Lehigh returns home the following Saturday to host Bucknell.
