Lehigh (2-2, 1-0 Patriot League) used a pair of four-goal runs in the second and third quarters to overcome an early 5-2 deficit and help propel the Mountain Hawks to an 11-7 victory over the Navy men's lacrosse team (3-3, 0-1 PL) Saturday afternoon at Ulrich Sports Complex in the teams' Patriot League opener.

Seven different players scored for Lehigh on the afternoon, including five different Mountain Hawks accounting for the eight goals during their two runs.

"Credit to Lehigh for making the plays they needed to and executing down the stretch," said third-year Navy head coach Joe Amplo. "As they began to make their comeback, they made plays that turned the momentum in their favor and we got tight and never felt comfortable moving forward."

After Navy pushed its lead to three (5-2) just two minutes into the second quarter on a Max Hewitt (M / So / Denver, Colo.) goal, Cole Kirst targeted his five-yard runner to spark a three-goal run that saw Lehigh pull even heading into the locker room at halftime.

Lehigh took its first lead of the game less than three minutes into the third frame when Quinn Armstrong tucked his shot over the shoulder of Navy keeper Pat Ryan (Jr / Groton, Mass.) to cap the Mountain Hawks' four-goal run and give them their first lead of the game.

The Mids answered just under three minutes later when Hewitt scored his third of the game off an assist by co-captain Nick Cole (A / Sr / Ashburn, Va.) to knot the game for a second and final time.

Second-year midfielders Aidan Decker and Freddie Amato teamed up to score the next two goals, sparking another four-goal run by Lehigh to put the Mountain Hawks up for good.

After scoring five goals in the first 17 minutes of the contest, Navy managed just two over the final 43 minutes. The Mids had scoring droughts of 18 and 21 minutes after Lehigh's Mike Sisselberger seized control of the faceoff x. Sisselberger, who set a single-season NCAA record for faceoff winning percentage a year ago, won 18 of the 22 draws in the contest, including the final 11 (10 for 10 in the second half).

"When you have a player at the x who controls the game like him (Sisselberger), it really forces you to execute, to be almost perfect on offense because your possessions are limited," added Amplo. "You find yourself in an uphill battle. At the end of the day, Lehigh is a solid team and their players stepped up when they needed to."

The Mids had few possessions over the final three quarters as Lehigh nearly doubled up Navy in the shots column with the Mids getting off just 14 shots in each half, while the Mountain Hawks closed out the day scoring 11 goals on 50 shots.

Hewitt turned in his second-straight hat trick to lead the Mids with 3 goals, while Cole chipped in a pair of goals and an assist. Henry Tolker (A / Fr / Catonsville, Md.) and Jon Jarosz (M / So / Gambrills, Md.) also contributed goals with Patrick Skalniak (M / Jr / Dallas, Texas) and Bryson Rhee (M / So / Ephrata, Pa.) providing assists.

Ryan finished the game with 14 saves, while nine different Mids were credited with a caused turnover in the contest.

Kirst, Armstrong, Decker and Scott Cole socred two goals apiece to lead the way for the Mountain Hawks, while All-Patriot League goalie James Spence made 10 saves between the pipes.

Navy returns to returns home to Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium next Saturday when it plays host to Colgate. The contest is set for a 12-noon faceoff and will be streamed live on ESPN+ with Pete Medhurst and Joe Miller on the call. WNAV 1430-AM / 99.9 FM will also carry the game.

### Go Navy ###