The Lafayette men’s lacrosse team (2-3, 0-0 Patriot League) tallied its second win of the season last Saturday, beating Binghamton 10-4.
Junior attacker Peter Lehman scored a hat trick and recorded two assists. Junior midfielder John Mathes found the back of the net on two separate occasions, while senior attacker Ryan Duncan chipped in two goals of his own, in addition to an assist.
“I think we played a really tough and hard-fought game,” Lehman wrote in an email. “Our defense really held their ground well and played a terrific game.”
Binghamton had four different goal scorers. They began the game on fire, scoring three consecutive goals to take a 3-1 lead in the first quarter. Lehman opened the scoring for the Leopards just under four minutes into the contest.
The Maroon and White scored four unanswered goals in the second quarter, with Lehman netting two, junior attacker Kalman Kraham adding one and freshman attacker Nick Muller converting on a man-up opportunity. Lafayette maintained a 5-3 lead heading into halftime.
Lafayette kicked off the second half with an extra-man opportunity, and Mathes took advantage. His goal increased the Leopards’ lead to 6-3 early in the third quarter.
Lehman, Duncan and sophomore attacker Nick Rossi also found the back of the net in the third, giving Lafayette a 9-4 lead heading into the final quarter.
The Leopards’ defense locked down the Bearcats in the fourth, forcing a total of four turnovers. Duncan surged past defenders for the final goal of the contest at 8:27, ending the game at a score of 10-4.
Senior defender Sean Rushton led the Leopards’ defense with seven ground balls and two caused turnovers while contributing with an assist on the attack. Freshman goalkeeper Joe Doherty earned his second career win and racked up 10 saves, while his Binghamton counterpart recorded 16 saves. Doherty was named the Patriot League Goalkeeper of the Week for his performance.
Despite the impressive win, however, the Maroon and White can still work on various aspects of their game.
“I think there is a ton of room for improvement coming off the game. Schematically there are always tweaks to be made but continuing to focus on ground balls will be a key for us going forward,” Lehman wrote.
Lafayette commences Patriot League play tomorrow against the Loyola Greyhounds.
“Loyola is a well-respected opponent, but most importantly for us, we are focused on playing our best brand of lacrosse,” Lehman wrote.
