Lacrosse
By John Painter
(Bethlehem, Pa. – April 6, 2013) Penalties outlasted passion and turnovers were trouble Saturday as Colgate dropped a 13-10 decision to Lehigh at Goodman Stadium.
The Raiders played an inspired game against the preseason Patriot League favorites, and the score was deadlocked 8-8 going into the fourth quarter. But five Colgate turnovers and four more infractions led to three man-up goals for the Mountain Hawks over the final 15 minutes. It was too much for the Raiders to offset.
For the game, Lehigh scored six extra-man goals in eight opportunities.
“The big thing for me is there were just too many penalties,” Raiders head coach Mike Murphy said. “We just played too undisciplined down the stretch. I made a comment to the guys at halftime that we had to stay out of the box, and we just didn’t.
“Of their 13 goals, six of them came in the extra-man situation. There were some times where we could have gotten a penalty against them, but for whatever reason we would retaliate. It just showed a lack of discipline, and I’ve to do a better job coaching our guys in those situations.”
Colgate committed 11 penalties for the game and handed over nine of their 12 turnovers after intermission.
“Twelve turnovers isn’t a terrible number, but nine in the second half kills you,” Murphy said. “Offensively, we did what we needed to do. It’s a frustrating game.”
The Raiders earned four goals from Peter Baum and three from Ryan Walsh, who added two assists. Baum now has 30 goals for the season and 41 points, while Walsh is up to 28 and 38. Brendon McCann, Jimmy Ryan and Connor Murphy also found the net for Colgate, which dropped to 7-4 overall and 2-2 in the Patriot League.
Even Throughout
Despite a Walsh goal just past the midway point of the first quarter, Lehigh led 3-1 before the Raiders rallied to tie. McCann scored on a shot moving away from goal, and then Brown put-back a ground ball rebound less than 90 seconds later to make it 3-3.
It looked like the quarter would end that way, but Lehigh’s Dan Taylor found the net with a backhander just one second before the horn for a big Mountain Hawks goal and a 4-3 homesiders’ lead.
There was practically no carryover, however, as Robert Grabher fought for and won the second quarter face-off, picked up the ground ball and then found Baum. The senior captain rifled one home just 18 seconds into the period for the first of three straight Colgate goals.
Walsh scored unassisted on a rifle shot for the first Raiders lead at 13:05, and then Baum scored from Eric Foote’s pass as the Colgate bench erupted. It was 6-4 Colgate with 11:36 left before half.
Lehigh then answered with three consecutive goals of its own to turn the game around once again and go into halftime ahead 7-6. Both lead changes for the day happened in the second quarter, while the game’s six ties were spread over all four periods.
Colgate opened the second half on the right foot. Walsh scored just a minute into the stanza to tie the game at 7-all, and Raiders goalie Conor Murphy came up with a pair of huge saves to preserve the balance. Just past the midway point, Walsh appeared to score another. But the sophomore was ruled in the crease on a close call, and then the yellow flags started raining.
The Raiders were penalized for a pair of infractions on the same play with 3:59 showing, and Lehigh scored against the two-man-down visitors just 12 seconds later to retake the lead 8-7. Baum forged another tie with a bouncer past Lehigh’s Matt Poillon, and the game was 8-8 heading to the fourth.
Lehigh’s David DiMaria swiped a pass from Colgate’s Murphy and scored to push the Hawks back in front with 12:37 left, only to have Ryan answer unassisted for the Raiders just 21 seconds later. But turnovers and penalties proved to be a tough combination the rest of the way.
Three Lehigh goals followed over a stretch of three minutes and 18 seconds midway in the period. Baum gave Colgate one last glimmer with his fourth goal at the 5:01 mark, but two more penalties kept the Raiders from applying much pressure, and the Mountain Hawks survived.
It was Colgate’s first loss this season when scoring double-digit goals.
One and Not the Other
“As I said to the team at the end of the game, I was proud of our effort,” Murphy said. “I was just disappointed in our lack of discipline. To beat great teams, you’ve got to play with great effort and great discipline.
“We did one; we just didn’t do the other.”
Shots were 36-34 in Lehigh’s favor, and the Mountain Hawks held a 31-25 advantage in ground balls. Turnovers were 12 apiece, while face-offs ended 13-12 in favor of the hosts. Clears were 13-of-18 for Colgate to 13-of-15 for Lehigh.
Colgate defenseman Bobby Lawrence matched his season high with four caused turnovers, while picking up five ground balls. Kevin Boyle also recorded five ground balls and caused a pair of turnovers.
The Mountain Hawks, now 8-4 overall and 4-0 in the Patriot League, received four goals from Patrick Corbett and three from Dante Fantoni. Lehigh and Bucknell face off Friday to decide who will be the top seed in the Patriot League Tournament.
The Raiders return to the Lehigh Valley next weekend still fighting for tournament qualification with a Saturday face-off against Lafayette. Start time is 4:30, and Murphy says the Raiders will be ready.
“There are must-wins throughout,” he said. “Lafayette’s very talented. We’ll open the book on those guys Sunday and get back at it.”
Lehigh 13, Colgate 10
Colgate (7-4, 2-2): Peter Baum 4-0, Ryan Walsh 3-2, Brendon McCann 1-0, Jimmy Ryan 1-0, Connor Brown 1-0, Matt Baker 0-1, Robert Grabher 0-1, Eric Foote 0-1. Totals: 10-5.
Lehigh (8-4, 4-0): Patrick Corbett 4-0, Dante Fantoni 3-3, Kyle Stiefel 2-0, David DiMaria 1-4, Dan Taylor 1-2, Kurtis Kaunas 1-0, Cody Ferraro 1-0, Brian Hess 0-2. Totals: 13-11.
Saves: Colgate 10 (Conor Murphy); Lehigh 15 (Matt Poillon).
Halftime: Lehigh 7-6.