Army's Comeback Falls Short at Lehigh

Saturday, April 3

Bethlehem, PA

1 PM

Army West Point

4-2, 2-1PL

Lehigh

5-0, 4-0PL

Army West Point

Lehigh

Army's Comeback Falls Short at Lehigh

April 03, 2021 | Men's Lacrosse

Box Score

BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Despite a furious fourth quarter comeback, the seventh-ranked Army West Point men's lacrosse team fell to 10th-ranked Lehigh, 13-12, on Saturday afternoon in Patriot League action.

Army (4-2, 2-1 Patriot League) stormed back from a four-goal deficit in the fourth quarter and had a chance in the end, but Lehigh was able to come way with the victory.

Brendan Nichtern finished with a game-high seven points on a career best five goals and two assists with five of the points coming in the first half. Aidan Byrnes and Gunner Philipp each had two points on the day with Byrnes tallying a pair of goals and Philipp adding a goal and an assist. Wyatt Schupler finished with 11 saves in net for the Black Knights. Marcus Hudgins and the defense held Lehigh's leading scorer Tommy Schelling scoreless and he entered the game with 23 points in four games this season.

Lehigh's biggest weapon on the afternoon was Mike Sisselberger, who is one of the best faceoff men in the nation and he won 23 faceoffs for the home squad.

"We needed to be a little sharper in the middle of the field, particularly in the second and third quarters," head coach Joe Alberici said. "Credit to Lehigh, they played well and played to their strengths."

The two teams played a tight first 15 minutes with Nichtern tallying both of Army's goals and they went into the second quarter tied at 2-2. The two squads traded goals and Nichtern's second goal was a snipe from the left corner of the crease for his 16th goal of the season.

Army and Lehigh continued the back-and-forth play in the second quarter and the Mountian Hawks took a small 6-5 advantage into the break. Nichtern finished the half with four goals and an assist as he factored in all five goals for the Black Knights. Lehigh was able to take a two-goal advantage with three straight goals, but Nichtern stopped the streak with his 18th of the season going into the break.

After the Black Knights tied the game again at 6-6 early in the third quarter, Lehigh tallied five of the next six goals and took an 11-7 lead with 4:11 left in the frame.

Army clawed back with a four-goal run with Bobby Abshire scoring with 54 seconds left in the third and then Nickolas Edinger and Byrnes found the back of the net as well early in the fourth. Nicholas Garofano finished off the run with his fifth of the season to tie the game at 11-11 with 8:44 left.

Lehigh's Christian Mule put the Mountain Hawks back on top with 4:39 remaining after Army held the home team scoreless for almost 15 minutes. Philipp answered with a man-up tally at the 3:16 mark, setting up the drama for the final minutes.

Cole Kirst put the Mountain Hawks back on top with a shot through traffic got past Schupler with just over two minutes left. Army had two opportunities down the stretch thanks to a couple of bad clears by Lehigh. The best chance was Garofano's shot with 13 seconds left, but James Spence came up with his 11th save of the day and the Mountain Hawks came away with the win.

"The guys battled," Alberici said. "This was a setback, but confident that our guys will be ready to go next week."

Army is back in action next Saturday at Loyola for another huge Patriot League matchup and the game will be live on CBS Sports Network at 1 p.m. in Baltimore.

HIGHLIGHTS & NOTES:

Army is now 2-2 on the road this season and both defeats have come against top 10 teams.
The Black Knights faced it third top 10 team of the season.
The loss halted Army's four-game winning streak.
The one goal allowed in the first half was a season low allowed for Army.
The seven points by Brendan Nichtern tied a season high for the attackmen and it was the third time this season he has reached that mark.
The five goals were a career best for Nichtern and he tied his career best with four in the first half.
Aidan Byrnes tallied his third multi-goal game of the season.
Wyatt Schupler now has double-digit saves in five of the six games in 2021.