The Lehigh men’s lacrosse team was defeated 12-8 on Saturday in a tough road matchup at No. 2 Virginia in Charlottesville, Virginia.
Sophomore attacker Tommy Schelling and senior attacker Ryan Klose led the Mountain Hawks in scoring, each netting three goals to help Lehigh remain competitive throughout the afternoon.
The Mountain Hawks started off slowly in the first quarter, allowing five straight goals to go down 6-1 after Klose initially leveled the score at 1-1.
In response, Lehigh switched to a zone defense in the second quarter to help combat Virginia’s runs toward the goal.
Two goals by Shelling and a goal by freshman attacker Christian Mule cut the deficit to 6-4 after Lehigh’s tactical switch before Virginia’s Peter Garno stretched the Cavalier’s lead to three, as the first half ended 7-4.
The zone proved to be largely effective in the quarter, with Lehigh outscoring Virginia 3-1 to remain in the game at halftime. Neither team was able to score in the last seven minutes of the quarter.
Lehigh stayed in its zone defense to start the second half, limiting Virginia’s offense to two goals in the third quarter, as the period finished up with the Cavaliers on top 9-5.
An unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on junior goalie James Spence near the beginning of the fourth quarter forced back-up freshman goalie Caleb Creasor to come in cold off the bench. Virginia capitalized on the penalty, as a Matt Moore goal stretched the score to 10-5 with the Mountain Hawks down a man.
Lehigh remained competitive throughout the rest of the game, but the deficit proved too much to overcome. The Mountain Hawks were forced to switch back to a man-to-man defense after Moore’s goal, as Lehigh looked to force its way back into the game.
Klose and Schelling combined to score three times in the last eight minutes, but there simply was not enough time for Lehigh to come back, as the Mountain Hawks were not able to get within four goals.
Lehigh will look to get back on track against Virginia Military Institute at 5 p.m. on Feb. 20 at Ulrich Sports complex in Bethlehem.
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