Defense Steps Up in Win Over Lehigh

Saturday, March 11

Bethlehem, PA

2 PM

Army West Point

5-1, 2-0PL

Lehigh

3-3, 1-2PL

Army West Point

Lehigh

Defense Steps Up in Win Over Lehigh

March 11, 2017 | Men's Lacrosse

Box Score

BETHLEHEM, Pa. - The No. 11/13 Army West Point men's lacrosse team scored three goals in 37 seconds to take a 4-3 lead and the defense took over from there for a 6-4 victory over Lehigh in Patriot League action on Saturday.

The Black Knights (5-1, 2-0 Patriot League) were led by a great defensive effort, holding Lehigh to four goals. AJ Barretto tied a career high with 12 saves and held the Mountain Hawks to only one goal in the second half. Army got six goals from six different players as Ted Glesener, Cole Johnson, Nick Santorelli, David Symmes and Matthew Donovan each tallied goals.

Dan Grabher took on the Patriot League's leader in face off percentage, Conor Gaffney, and finished 10-of-14 at the x.

Lehigh (3-3, 1-2 Patriot League) saw Andrew Pettit score twice, while Matt Raposo tallied two points with a goal and an assist. Chris Kiernan was incredible in net with 10 saves and most came as sprawling stops.

HIGHLIGHTS AND NOTES

This was the 31st all-time meeting between Army and Lehigh since 1990.
Army is now 24-7 against the Mountain Hawks.
Head coach Joe Alberici recruited Lehigh's head coach Kevin Cassese at Duke and the pair worked together as assistants for the Blue Devils in 2005.
Army starts the Patriot League season 2-0 for the fourth consecutive year.
The Black Knights continued their winning streak over the Mountain Hawks to four games, which is the longest since six in a row from 2000-05.
Johnson and Johnny Surdick were back in the starting lineup after missing last week against Lafayette.
Surdick tallied his first point of the season with an assist on Army's sixth goal of the game.
The Black Knights went just over 27 minutes in the game without a goal, its longest scoreless streak of the year.
Grabher has won 10 or more faceoffs in all six games this season.
Army caused a season high 11 turnovers in the win and has allowed five or less goals in four of its six games this year.
Johnson finished with two points to give him 155 in his career and he stays put at No. 12 on the all-time list. He has 93 career goals and 62 career assists.

TURNING POINT

The Black Knights scored three goals in 37 seconds in the second quarter to erase a 3-1 deficit and took a 4-3 lead.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Glesener got the scoring started early in the first quarter and the defense took over from there for the next five minutes with four caused turnovers and three failed clears by the Mountain Hawks.
Lehigh scored three unanswered goals and led 3-1 with 8:54 left in the second quarter, but Army fired back.
Donovan, Johnson and Santorelli scored three goals each in 37 seconds to give Army a 4-3 with seven minutes left. Two of the tallies were man-up goals, while Johnson's was an incredible diving score around the crease.
Miller added another towards the end of the quarter and Army led 5-3 at the half.
The scoring came to a screeching halt in the second half with both teams combining for just two scores.
Lehigh cut the Army lead to 5-4 with 11:31 on the clock in the third quarter with Raposo scoring after a behind-the-back feed from Tristan Rai.
Symmes gave Army much-needed breathing room with 11:48 remaining in the game with his 10th of the season on a snipe shot from the outside. He gained a running start after a nice pass from Surdick and Kiernan couldn't stop it.
That was all the scoring the Black Knights would need as Barretto and the defense took over from there.

UP NEXT

The Black Knights return home on Monday afternoon at 3 p.m. at Michie Stadium. Admission is free to the game and it will be live on the Patriot League Network.