In the second of four straight road games, the Lehigh men’s lacrosse team could only muster one second-half goal and fell 15-8 to No. 2/3 University of North Carolina on Saturday in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
Lehigh (2-1) hung around in the first half, scoring as time expired to cut the lead to 11-7. But the Tar Heels (3-0) blanked the Mountain Hawks in the third quarter, allowing them to bolster their lead and remain in front for the rest of the game.
Sophomore attackman Andrew Pettit continued his successful start to the 2017 season with his second straight hat trick, adding an assist as well to tie for a team-high four points. Sophomore attackman Tristan Rai also had four points, scoring once and tallying three assists.
Despite the loss, Lehigh actually won the ground ball battle 30-29 behind a team-high six from freshman faceoff midfielder Conor Gaffney. Gaffney helped keep Lehigh in the game, winning 11-of-23 faceoffs against one of the best faceoff men in the country, UNC’s Stephen Kelly.
Senior attackman Luke Goldstock led North Carolina with five goals while sophomore Andy Matthews added four assists.
Lehigh kept the game close, trailing just 5-3 after the first quarter. The team scored four more times in the second quarter, but the Tar Heels’ offense exploded for six of their own to take an 11-7 lead going into the half. North Carolina added three more goals in the third quarter to make it 14-7 before spending much of the fourth quarter running out the clock.
The Mountain Hawks will move on to the second half of their road swing with their first Patriot League game as they’ll take on Holy Cross on Feb. 25 at noon.
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