Men's Lacrosse Hosts Pair at Michie Stadium

WEST POINT, N.Y. – The Army lacrosse team returns to Michie Stadium for the first time in a couple of weeks and is set to take on Lehigh on Saturday at 12 p.m., followed by NJIT on Sunday at 12 p.m. as well.

HOW TO FOLLOW
TELEVISION • None
RADIO • 1440 WLNA/1260 WBNR
VIDEO • Patriot League Network
AUDIO • Knight Vision ($)
LIVE STATISTICS • sidearmstats.com/army/mlax/
GAME NOTES • Army Notes
TWITTER • ArmyWP_MLax

THE OPENING FACEOFF
Army welcomes Patriot League foe Lehigh on Saturday afternoon, followed by a non-conference matchup against NJIT on Sunday. The Black Knights are coming off a dominating 14-5 win over Lafayette in their league opener last weekend. They jumped out to a 7-2 lead after one quarter of the play and cruised to the win. Lehigh enters Saturday with a 4-1 record and a 2-0 league mark. The Mountain Hawks downed Colgate last week, 12-9, and also beat Holy Cross. NJIT has struggled this season and is still looking for its first win through its first seven games.

LAST TIME OUT
The Black Knights opened their 2016 Patriot League slate with a 14-5 win over Lafayette on March 5 in Easton, Pa. Army scored seven goals in the first quarter and cruised to the win. Cole Johnson led the way with a career-high seven points on six goals and an assists, while Nate Jones tallied a hat trick with three goals.

THIS WEEK'S STORYLINES
The Mountain Hawks come to West Point with a 4-1 record and are just outside the top-20 in all the national polls. They are 2-0 in league play with wins over Holy Cross and Colgate. The two schools have split the last four meetings, including Lehigh's win in the Patriot League semifinals in 2014. The four games have been decided by a total six goals with a pair of one-goal games. There is a connection between the two coaches as Kevin Cassese played lacrosse at Duke during Joe Alberici's stint as an assistant coach with the Blue Devils. Cassese is a 2003 graduate of Duke University.

WHAT'S UP NEXT?
The Black Knights return to Michie Stadium next weekend for another Patriot League tilt. They welcome Holy Cross to West Point for a 12 p.m. faceoff. The Crusaders have been a competitive team this season with multiple one-goal losses to start the year. Tickets are still available and can be purchased online at GoArmyWestPoint.com or at the ticket office.

JOHNSON NABS WEEKLY HONOR
Johnson led Army to a win in its league opener and earned Patriot League Offensive Player of the Week. He posted a career high in goals and points with six and seven, respectively. He was unstoppable in the first half with five of the six goals coming in the first 30 minutes, including a natural hat trick in the second quarter.

BALANCED ATTACK
The Black Knights continue to be a balanced team on the offensive end as seven different players had goals against the Orange on Feb. 28 and they had six players tally goals against the Leopards. So far this year, 19 different Cadets have goals.

AT THE X
Army has had a great start to the season at the faceoff "x" as it ranks fifth in the nation in winning percentage at .658. It leads the Patriot League in that category and as a team. The Cadets won by 20 against VMI on Feb. 21, the most since winning 20 opposite Loyola on March 14, 2015. The Black Knights won 17-of-22 against the Leopards last week, including Dan Grabher winning 8-of-10.

D-FENSE, D-FENSE
Heading into league play, the Black Knights are fifth in the nation in scoring defense, allowing seven goals per game, and have held three opponents to five or less goals this season. Army is 11th in the country in caused turnovers and six in man-down defense through three games at a 83 percent success rate.

SCOUTING THE MOUNTAIN HAWKS
Lehigh enters Saturday's game with a 4-1 overall record and a 2-0 league mark after downing Colgate by a 12-9 score last week. The Mountain Hawks have not had trouble scoring goals this season as they have averaged over 14 a game in their five contests. They have also shut down opponents by allowing 8.8 goals a game. Lehigh's lone loss was against No. 3 Duke on February 14 in Durham. The Mountain Hawks narrowly loss by a 13-11 decision and have rebounded with three-straight wins.

Tristan Rai leads the way with 21 points on 18 goals and three assists. He has two man-up goals and a man-down goal as well. Rai has scored at least two goals in every game this season with a season high five against NJIT in the season opener. Reid Weber is second on the squad with 20 points on 13 tallies and seven helpers. Matt Reposo is the team leader in assists with nine and he has a total of 19 points with 10 goals to go with the assists.

In net, Adam Sawicki has started all five games and has a 9.18 goals against average, along with a .506 save percentage. He gave up nine goals against Colgate on 32 shots faced and allowed 11 versus Holy Cross on 27 shots faced.

SERIES HISTORY
This is the 29th meeting between Army and Lehigh since the two programs met in 1990. The Black Knights won the first 10 meetings in the series and have a 21-7 overall record against the Mountain Hawks. The two teams have played a lot of close games over the past three season with each game decided by two goals or less. They have met two times in the Patriot League Tournament with Lehigh winning both matchups.

SCOUTING THE HIGHLANDERS
NJIT comes to West Point still looking for its first win of the season after seven games in 2016. The Highlanders are 0-7 after dropping its last game on March 8 against Monmouth on the road. They narrowly lost at Quinnipiac on March 5 with a 9-7 defeat. That is the closest they have come to a victory as they are in their second season as a varsity program.

Joe Lomeli is the top scorer on the team with 10 points, all of which have come as goals. He has two man-up tallies, which is tied with Jesse Rice for the team high. Aaron Forster is second on the squad with eight points on six goals and two assists, while John Roach has six goals and an assist for seven points. The team has scored 36 goals in seven games and has allowed 111.

In net, Nick Marzullo has started all seven games and has a 17.32 goals against average and a .419 save percentage. Marzullo has faced a large amount of shots with the total up to 271.

SERIES HISTORY
This is the first meeting between Army and NJIT.

Men's Lacrosse Hosts Pair at Michie Stadium

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Players Mentioned

Dan Grabher

Cole Johnson

Nate Jones

Army West Point Athletics