Lehigh Leads from Start to Finish over HC
from press release
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Lehigh jumped out to a
3-0 lead on Holy Cross in the first quarter and the Mountain Hawks
never looked back as they downed the Crusaders 11-5 at the Ulrich
Sports Complex on Saturday afternoon to earn their first Patriot
League win of the season. Senior Brian Bienemann led the way
for the Brown and White with four goals and an assist, while
Cameron Lao-Gosney and David DiMaria added two scores as Lehigh
improves to 4-5 overall and 1-2 in the Patriot League with the
win. Five different Crusaders scored for the visitors who
drop to 2-7 overall and 1-2 in league action.
“I think that was as close to a full 60-minute effort as
we’ve gotten all year,” Lehigh head coach Kevin Cassese
said afterwards. “Certainly there is room for
improvement, but I thought our guys battled and really carried the
momentum throughout the game.” He continued, “We
are a long way from where we want to be but this shows us that we
can fight for the full 60 minutes.”
Lehigh held a decided advantage in shots on the day as the Mountain
Hawks unleashed 42 attempts to Holy Cross’ 17.
Bienemann led the way with 15 of those shots while freshman Dante
Fantoni was credited with six. Senior Evan Guerrero caused
three turnovers, scooped up one ground ball and also scored his
first goal of the season, while junior Will Scudder won 11-of-18
face-offs and scooped up six ground balls. DiMaria and
Cameron Lao-Gosney led the Brown and White with two assists each
and freshman Dan Carr stopped nine shots in goal.
“I thought our attack did a good job of controlling the pace
and commanding the tempo,” Cassese commented.
“Brian Bienemann did a great job today; we’ve been
asking him to be more assertive and I think today was a major
stepping stone for him.” He went onto add, “Our
defense played well, we limited Holy Cross’ opportunities and
did a good job with the ride. Anytime the ball was down on
the offensive end our guys seemed to come up with it and that was
great to see.”
Kenny Minor led the Crusaders with six shots on the afternoon,
while Edison Parzanese and James Kennedy took three apiece.
Tim Pond won four-of-eight in the X and scooped up two ground
balls, while Douglas Broussard led Holy Cross with six GBs.
As a team the Crusaders caused seven turnovers and Connor Sweeney
made 11 saves in 60 minutes of action in goal.
Bienemann showed early that it was his day as he netted the first
score of the game off an assist from DiMaria at the 10:11 mark of
the opening quarter. DiMaria made it a two-goal lead for
Lehigh with his score ten minutes later and Cameron
Lao-Gosney’s goal with 1:45 on the clock gave the Brown and
White a 3-0 advantage. Conor McKenna scored Holy Cross’
first goal of the day with 1:39 remaining in the quarter, sending
the teams into the second with the Mountain Hawks up 3-1.
Kennedy opened the second quarter with his 12th score of the season
to bring Holy Cross within one, but Cameron Lao-Gosney responded
with an unassisted goal at the 10:04 mark to give the Mountain
Hawks a two-goal lead. Parzanese answered for the visitors
with a score at the 6:09 mark to again make it a one-goal affair,
but Bienemann scored the final two goals of the half, including one
with just 17 ticks on the clock to send the Brown and White into
halftime with a 6-3 lead.
John Hannan brought Holy Cross within two with a goal 2:26 into the
third, but Bienemann scored one more time for Lehigh as the home
team went on top 7-4. Adam Johnston then got into the act as
he scored on a gorgeous feed from DiMaria as the Mountain Hawks
opened up an 8-4 lead with 5:19 remaining in the third. Kenny
Minor beat Carr with a shot with five seconds to play in the
quarter however, sending the teams into the final 15 minutes with
Lehigh on top 8-5.
Fantoni found Guerrero for the senior’s first score of the
season less than two minutes into the fourth and Lehigh was on top
9-5, while Fantoni’s goal at the 12:10 mark gave Lehigh a
10-5 advantage. DiMaria put the game out of reach with his
sixth score of the season with 9:51 to play and from there Lehigh
controlled possession to earn its second win in its last three
games.
Lehigh hits the road for its next game when the Mountain Hawks
travel to New York to take on Binghamton on Tuesday evening.
The opening face-off is set for 7:00.
