The men’s lacrosse team hosted rival Lehigh University under the lights last Friday at Fisher Stadium, falling in a 14-12 bloodbath to end its season on a seven-game conference skid.
With the Leopards already eliminated from Patriot League playoff contention, the evening became less about standings and more about honoring graduating student athletes on their Senior Day.
The Leopards (1-7 Patriot League, 5-9 overall) opened with urgency, with freshman attacker Charlie Foley striking first to go up 1-0. Lehigh (4-4 Patriot League, 8-7 overall) responded with four straight goals, but freshman Cooper Pasko stopped the run in the final minute and a half of the quarter to trim the deficit to 4-2.
The Maroon and White flipped the script in the second quarter. The offense began to click, pouring in six of the seven goals in the frame. Sophomore attacker Josh Heaney netted his first two of the night, while Pasko added to his scoring tally. Freshman midfielder Erik Volfson, sophomore attacker Ben DiBattista and sophomore midfielder Nick Blalock all contributed to the surge. By halftime, the Leopards had seized an 8-5 advantage.
Lehigh countered out of the break, reclaiming momentum with a five-goal third quarter. The Mountain Hawks generated clean looks and capitalized on nearly every chance, while only allowing a single goal to senior attacker Nick Muller. Even so, Lafayette stayed within striking distance, heading into the fourth trailing 10-9.
Foley opened the fourth quarter on a burst, tying the game at 10 less than a minute into the frame, but Lehigh answered with back-to-back goals to build some separation. Heaney buried his second of the night with under five minutes remaining to pull the Leopards within one, only for the Mountain Hawks to respond about 40 seconds later. Junior midfielder Nick Faccone struck soon after to trim the deficit again, but a final Lehigh tally in the closing moments sealed the 14-12 result.
This loss caps a grueling Patriot League schedule for Lafayette, which never regained its early momentum after stunning then-No. 9 Army in its conference opener. The win proved to be the lone conference highlight, as Lafayette dropped its final seven league matchups just one year removed from a Patriot League semifinal appearance.