Box Score BETHLEHEM, Pa. // All-Patriot League attackman Tommy Schelling (Sr) scored 4 goals and added 4 assists, while All-Patriot League netminder James Spence (Gr) made 14 saves to lead fourth-seeded Lehigh (8-6, 5-3 Patriot League) to a 14-8 victory over fifth-seeded Navy (9-6, 5-3 Patriot League) Tuesday evening in the Patriot League Men's Lacrosse Quarterfinals held at Ulrich Sports Complex in Bethlehem, Pa.

Schelling scored a goal and added a pair of assists in the Mountain Hawks' 4-0 run to open the game, giving Lehigh a lead it would not relinquish over the 60-minute contest.

Navy closed to within a pair of goals on three different occasions - all three coming in a combined 8-goal second quarter. Navy answered Lehigh's 4-0 run to start the game with back-to-back goals to end the first (Henry Tolker from Xavier Arline) and open the second quarter (Patrick Skalniak from Dane Swanson).

The two teams exchange goals and Navy again cut to within 2 (5-3) on a 15-yarder by Max Hewitt (So / M / Denver, Colo.). The goal marked Hewitt's 30th point of the season and he became the third different Navy midfielder to reach the 30-point milestone this year. It's the first time in the program's 115-year history that 3 midfielders have scored 30 or more points.

Navy had the opportunity to cut it to one, but struggled to clear the ball not once, but on two-consecutive trips down the field. Lehigh converted both of those failed clears into goals by attackman Cole Kirst (Sr), as the Mountain Hawks took a 7-3 lead with 4:50 to go in the first half.

The Mids answered 24 seconds later when Patrick Skalniak (Jr / M / Dallas, Texas) ripped his second of the day off an assist from Henry Tolker (Fr / A / Catonsville, Md.) on extra-man, while Dane Swanson (So / M / St. Mary's City, Md.) scored his lone goal two minutes later off an assist from Hewitt to once again close within 2 at 7-5.

Lehigh would get the final tally of the half, however, as Christian Mule' (Jr), working behind the net all alone, found Justin Tiernan five yards out to give the Mountain Hawks an 8-5 lead at the break.

Lehigh pushed its lead to 4 just three minutes into the third frame when Scott Cole (So) punched in his second of the game on a runner from 15 yards out.

Navy trimmed the lead to three (9-6) on an extra-man goal by co-captain Jack Sweeney (Sr / A / Glenelg, Md.) at the 9:24 mark in the third quarter, but would get no closer as Lehigh went on a 5-0 run that stretched in the fourth quarter and the Mids were held scoreless for 20 minutes.

Navy went on to score the final 2 goals of the game, an extra-man beauty by Skalniak and the final goal of his career by co-captain Nick Cole (A / Ashburn, Va.).

Coming into the game, the biggest hurdle Navy would need to overcome was two-time Patriot League Faceoff Specialist of the Year Mike Sisselberger, who centered the game ranked #4 nationally in faceoff winning percentage (62.5). Sisselberger dominated the Mids in the first half, winning 13 of the 15 draws. Navy adjusted in the second half and thanks to the strong play of veteran Nick Barry (Sr / Islip, N.Y.), the Mids won 8 of the 11 draws in the second half. Unfortunately for Navy, it did not impact the scoring column. Barry won 7 of the 10 draws he took in the game and finished his career with exactly 200 faceoff wins. He is just the seventh player at Navy to win 200 draws over their career.

Pat Ryan (Jr / Groton, Mass.) made 10 stops in goal and finished the season with 158, a mark that stands 20th on Navy's single-season leader board.

Skalniak, who was held to just a single shot in the regular-season meeting against the Mountain Hawks, paced the Mids with 4 points on 3 goals and an assist, while Tolker and Hewitt both scored a goal and dealt out 2 assists.

Skalniak finished the season as the team's leading scorer with 48 points on 28 goals and 20 assists. It's tied as the third-most points by a Navy midfielder in a single season and the most since Ryan Wade had 48 points on 20 goals and 28 assists in 2019. Swanson and Cole tied as the team's second-leading scorers with 38 points. Swanson's 38 points are tied as the sixth-most points by a Navy midfielder in school history. Cole, meanwhile, fell 6 points short of reaching 100 for his career.

Tolker was Navy's fourth-leading scorer with 34 points on 23 goals and 11 assists. It's the most points scored by a Navy freshman since Tucker Hull and Sam Jones scored 38 apiece in 2011. His 23 goals were the second most on the team this year and tied as the sixth most by a Navy freshman. Again, the most since Hull and Jones tallied 23 in 2011. His 11 assists are the 10th most by a Navy freshman and the most since Hull and Jones dealt out 15 in 2011.

It's the first time in school history that Navy finished the year with 5 players scoring 30 or more points.

Schelling led Lehigh with 8 points (4G, 4A) and was one of 5 players to score 2 or more goals for the Mountain Hawks, while Mule' finished with 2 goals and 2 assists.

Sisselberger closed out the game winning 15 of the 23 draws he took and grabbed a team-best 10 ground balls, while defenseman Michael Hagenberger totaled 4 caused turnovers and picked up 3 ground balls.

Lehigh advances to the Patriot League Semifinals where it will face top-seeded Boston University at 4:00 pm on Friday. Third-seeded Loyola, who defeated Bucknell in the other quarterfinal contest, will meet second-seeded Army on Friday at 7:00 pm in the second semifinal. The winner of the two semifinals will meet in the Patriot League Championship Game on Sunday at 12-noon.

### Go Navy ###