March 1, 2003

Lehigh's men's lacrosse team fell to 1-1 on the season after an 11-4 non-League loss at the hands of Villanova, 2-0, at the Ulrich Sports Complex on Saturday.

Lehigh trailed 3-0 after the first period, and could never get their offense on track. The Mountain Hawks were nearly held scoreless through the first 30:00, until junior Kurt Gerry scored at the 29:46 mark with the help of freshman Mike Osborne.

Lehigh cut the lead to four just 1:48 later, as Osborne picked up his second assist of the game, feeding senior Tony Lowe.

That would be as close as the Mountain Hawks would come, however, as the Wildcats would run off five more scores, before goals by freshman Connor McCarthy and sophomore Andrew Lucas finished the day's scoring.

Sophomore goalkeeper Tom Ellis made 10 saves in the loss, surrendering all 11 goals. Junior Chip Freeman led the Mountain Hawks in ground balls on the afternoon with six.

Leading the way Marc Creegan and Brian Marks. Creegan would score two goals and assist on another, while Marks added a goal to his pair of assists. In goal for the Wildcats, Joseph Canuso needed only four saves to pick up the win.

"We played pretty good defense against a very strong offensive team," head coach Chris Wakely said. "We couldn't get enough movement on offense, and that prevented us from getting many good scoring chances."

Lehigh was outshot on the afternoon 33-20. Villanova also took the advantage in face offs, winning 12 of the 19 during the contest. The Mountain Hawks converted an extra man opportunity on Lowe's goal, the only time either team converted on the afternoon.

Lehigh will look to get back into the win column on Tuesday, when Wagner pays a visit to the Ulrich Sports Complex.