BETHLEHEM, Pa. - The Lafayette men's lacrosse team fell to Lehigh 12-8 in the Patriot League Tournament quarterfinal on Tuesday night in Bethlehem.
 
Junior attackers John Mathes and Carter Cecil led the Leopards with two goals apiece. Lehigh's Scott Cole and Justin Tiernan each scored three.
 
The first half was low scoring for the teams, as Lehigh led 2-1 after the opening quarter. Senior Brian Collins and junior Carter Cecil both got on the board in the second as Lafayette led 3-2 at intermission.
 
Lehigh exploded on a 6-1 streak in the third quarter to take a 8-4 lead, with Mathes scoring Lafayette's lone goal.
 
The Mountain Hawks started the final quarter with a three-goal run, pushing the lead to 11-4 with 7:47 left in the game. Cecil kicked off a four-goal Lafayette run, with rookie Nick Muller, sophomore Liam Sargent and senior Ryan Duncan contributing goals to put Lafayette down 11-8. Lehigh's Dakota Eierman scored with 12 seconds left, giving the Mountain Hawks the 12-8 decision.
 
Rookie goalkeeper Joe Doherty made 15 saves in net, earning a .556 save percentage on the night.
 
The Leopards finished the season 6-10 (3-5 PL), earning the best record since 2010 when Lafayette was 8-6. This was also the first Patriot League Tournament appearance since 2010.