April 20, 2010
Box Score
EASTON, Pa. - Last season, the Lafayette men's lacrosse team fell to Army 13-12 after surrendering a fourth quarter lead. This time, it was the Leopards who were looking to return the favor, using a 9-3 second half run to cut an Army lead to one before the Black Knights held on for the dramatic 15-14 win.
The Army victory ensures the Black Knights will host and be the overall top seed in next weekend's Patriot League Tournament. Lafayette (8-4, 3-2) has already clinched a tournament berth of its own and can finish anywhere from second to fourth, depending on its outcome with archrival Lehigh on Saturday night.
For the second consecutive game, it was the Leopards that jumped out to an early 3-0 lead, playing behind the enthusiasm the first game for the program under the lights of Fisher Stadium.
A man-advantage and even strength goal from co-captain Steve Serling and a tally from Stefan Bauer less than five minutes into the game gave the Leopard the early 3-0 cushion.
From there, Army (7-5, 5-0) answered with two goals before Lafayette capped off the first quarter scoring with a Bauer assist to co-captain Matt Mersky to push the Leopard lead back to two (4-2).
From there, the Black Knights controlled the remainder of the half. Four straight goals, three even strength and one man-up, gave Army a 6-4 halftime lead.
It was the third quarter that turned out to be the decisive 15 minutes. Army went on a 6-1 run to begin the second half, with Lafayette's only scoring coming from an unassisted Ryan Hansen goal at the 7:44 mark.
An even-strength gave with 5:47 remaining in the quarter gave the Black Knights a 12-5 lead.
However, an upperclassman-laden Leopard squad answered with the heart they've shown all season. Mersky's second and third goals of the game followed by Cesar Munoz capped off a Lafayette flurry to end the third quarter and cut the deficit to just 12-8 going into the final frame.
After Bauer found Mersky for his fourth goal of the night, the two teams traded goals (Steve Serling for the Leopards), until Tom Perini, Steve Serling and Mersky sparked a 3-0 Lafayette run with 3:38 remaining to pull within one (14-13).
Army again responded, this time with attackman Jeremy Boltus finding the back of the cage for his third goal of the evening.
An unassisted goal from Bauer again cut the Army advantage to one (15-14) and sent a large Fisher Stadium crowd into a frenzy. However, the Black Knights won ensuing crucial faceoff and ran out the clock in their offensive end to walk away with the 15-14 win and clinch the tournament's top seed.
Lafayette controlled nearly every statistical category including shots (48-35), turnovers (10-13) and faceoffs (18-14). The Leopards also forced Black Knight goalkeeper Tom Palesky into 18 saves on the evening. The Leopards were 3-for-7 on man-up opportunities.
The Leopards will have the rest of the week to regroup to prepare for its next game on Saturday evening. In a game that needs no introduction, the Leopards will take on archrival Lehigh at 7 p.m. in Fisher Stadium. The game will have added meaning to Lafayette as seeding implications will be on the line. Lehigh has already been eliminated from postseason play.
The game can be seen live on LSN All-Access with Dan Mowdy and Shawn Langen with the call beginning at 6:55 p.m.
NOTES:
Junior Cesar Munoz had 11 groundballs on the evening.
Lafayette can be anywhere from the second to fourth seed in next weekend's Patriot League tournament in West Point, N.Y. Check back to GoLeopards.com for scenarios leading into Saturday night's game vs. Lehigh.
Lafayette defeated the Mountain Hawks 9-8 last season in Bethlehem, Pa.
Army, Lafayette and Navy have all clinched Patriot League tournament berths. Bucknell and Colgate will battle for the fourth spot in the Patriot League tournament on Saturday.
