BETHLEHEM, Pa. // One of just three remaining unbeaten teams in Division I men's lacrosse, eighth-ranked Lehigh (6-0 / 5-0 Patriot League / 3-0 PL South) raced out to an 8-2 halftime lead and held off an upset-minded Navy squad (3-2 / 1-2 PL / 1-2 PL South) over the final 30 minutes to secure a 13-7 victory at Ulrich Sports Complex in Bethlehem, Pa. on Saturday.

"Credit Lehigh, it's a very good team," said second-year Navy head coach Joe Amplo. "I felt their best players won the game for them. Their faceoff man is the best in the country and I thought their goalkeeper made some key stops when we could have gained the momentum.

"I'm happy with the way we fought back, but I'm disappointed with the final result."

Navy scored the opening goal in each of the first two periods, however, the Mountain Hawks held the Mids scoreless for nearly 11 minutes (10:51) in the opening quarter and 14 minutes (14:12) in the second to take a six-goal advantage into the break. While Navy trailed by just two after the first quarter, it was the second frame that proved to be the difference.

"We made some bad lacrosse plays in the second quarter specifically that really hurt," added Amplo. "Our errors in turn allowed them to go on a run and it put us in a tough spot to dig ourselves out of."

Making his first appearance since suffering an injury in the opener against Mount St. Mary's on Feb. 20, Dane Swanson (Fr / St. Mary's City, Md.) returned to the lineup where he would score his first-collegiate goal and trim Lehigh's lead to just one (3-2) at the 14:12 mark in the second quarter.

Lehigh, however, would answer by scoring five-consecutive goals, including the final two of the half by junior attackman Tommy Schelling.

As you would expect from a senior co-captain, Christian Daniel (Owings, Md.) stepped up in the third quarter, accounting for all three of the Mids' goals as they outscored Lehigh 3-1 in the period and got to within four at 9-5.

Lehigh's Christian Mule, however, scored back-to-back goals to open the final frame and give the Mountain Hawks a six-goal advantage once again.

Navy continued to fight and saw Patrick Skalniak (So / Dallas, Texas) and Nick Cole (Jr / Ashburn, Va.) score back-to-back goals midway through quarter. Skalniak poked his shot in from five yards outside of the crease after Swanson tracked down the ground ball and found his fellow midfielder, while the Lehigh defense collapsed on a charging Daniel who found Cole cutting into the middle of the field for the goal.

The Mids trailed by four goals with just over five minutes to go, but were unable to get any closer as Lehigh scored twice in the closing minutes on an unsettled goal and an open-net score.

Daniel closed out the day having played a role in five of the Mids' seven goals, scoring four goals and adding an assist. Just a week after reaching the 100-point milestone, hw moved into a tie for 27th (Rob Bailey, 1992-95) on Navy's all-time points list with 107, while also extending his team-best point and scoring streaks to 11-straight games.

Swanson turned in three points on a goal and a pair of assists, while Skalniak recorded a goal and an assist to extend his point streak to 10 games - every game since he arrived in Annapolis.

Spencer Rees (Sr / Baltimore, Md.) closed out the game with 15 saves for the Mids, the second most of his career.

Seven different players scored goals for the Mountain Hawks, including Schelling and Cole Kirst who both turned in three goals. Schelling added two assists to pace the team with five points, while Mule finished with two goals and two assists.

Senior James Spence totaled 14 saves in the game, making seven of those stops in the third quarter for the Mountain Hawks.

Navy had little answer for the nation's top-ranked faceoff man, as Mike Sisselberger won 18 of the 23 draws, including 10 of 12 in the first half to provide his offense with possession.

Navy will be back on the road next weekend when it makes the short trip to Baltimore to face Loyola. Faceoff is set for 1:00 pm at Ridley Athletic Complex. The game will be carried live on ESPN+, however there will be no radio coverage.

### Go Navy ###