Lehigh men’s lacrosse scores in final seconds to earn 16-15 win over Princeton

Junior attackman Reid Weber cradles the ball in the Mountain Hawks’ game against Princeton University on Tuesday, April 7, 2015 at Goodman Stadium. Weber had a hat trick and helped Lehigh win 16-15. (Liz Cornell/B&W photo)

With 16 seconds left in regulation, senior attackman Dan Taylor dodged from the left wing and scored to give Lehigh a 16-15 lead over No. 14/18 Princeton University on Tuesday at Banko Field, which would be enough to win the game. Before Tuesday’s win, Lehigh hadn’t defeated Princeton in men’s lacrosse since 1890.

“I took him into the corner, he went for a check and I made my move on him and got a step, and I saw the goalie come off his pipe, and I took the shot and it went in,” Taylor said. “I couldn’t be happier after the way it ended last year to finally close one out and get it in the final couple seconds.”

With Princeton being in the Ivy League, however, this win will not have an effect on the Patriot League standings. Still, the Hawks’ record improves to 5-8.

Lehigh’s offense provided a barrage of scoring from many of its key offensive players. In total, four different Mountain Hawks recorded a hat trick, and 12 of the team’s 16 goals were assisted.

Senior attackman Patrick Corbett, who had just one assist on the whole season, tied a career high two assists that night while junior midfielder Alex Eaton scored his first career hat trick. Senior midfielder Kurt Kaunas, junior attackman Reid Weber and Corbett were the other players to score three goals each in the game.

Coach Kevin Cassese said he was pleased with the way the offense performed in the game, as the team has now scored 16 or more goals in three of the last four games.

“I’m happy the way we scored them, it wasn’t just in the half-field offense,” Cassese said. “We scored a lot of different ways, and that’s why we’re getting to 16.”

After the offense struggled to score much during its six-game losing streak, the team has bounced back with an average of 14.8 goals per game in its last four games. Three of those four games were wins.

Kaunas said he recognizes the importance of winning now, as the season is nearing its end. After this game, the team has just two games left in the regular season.

“We’re just trying to string a few games together here,” Kaunas said. “We don’t have many games left, so we just want to play as well as we can. We’re just going to try to fight and build together as many as we can.”

The team has overcome its fair share of struggles this season, whether it was the suspension of three starters to begin the season or injuries to Corbett and senior goalie Matt Poillon. Now that the team has everyone back, they are beginning to inch closer to a .500 record again.

Poillon, who’s a three-time All-American, has had some difficulties playing this year. He played the first half against Princeton before being relieved by freshman goalie Adam Sawicki. Sawicki was eventually taken out for sophomore goalie Donny Stires, as Cassese opted to switch up the goalie multiple times in the game.

The Mountain Hawks’ one remaining Patriot League game is against their rival Lafayette College, which will be the final game of the regular season. Lehigh will also face Stony Brook University on Sunday.

“Our standard as a team is to never lose to Lafayette,” Kaunas said. “So far in my three years here, I haven’t lost to Lafayette, so we’re going to continue with that and hopefully go 4-0 against the rival.”

This game will be more than just an end-of-season rivalry game, however. Lehigh currently sits at ninth in the Patriot League, but in addition to requiring help from other teams, a win over Lafayette is necessary in order to keep Lehigh in the running for the playoffs. The team needs to move up to at least sixth place in order to make the Patriot League Tournament.

Lehigh will face off against Lafayette at home April 17 at 7 p.m.