WEST POINT, N.Y.
– The Army lacrosse team rallied from a two-goal deficit and beat Lehigh, 7-6, Tuesday night in a Patriot League contest at Michie Stadium.Lehigh led 5-3 early in the third quarter but Ryan Chase scored twice, including the game-winner, to help the Black Knights improve to 5-1 overall and 3-0 in conference play.
Brooks Korvin had his second two-goal, two-assist contest of the season, Chase had two goals and Justin Bokmeyer had a goal and two assists to help Army win its second one-goal game of the season.
Army, ranked 8th in the coaches’ poll and 13th in the media poll, has not played since losing to Cornell March 10 and trailed until Chase scored off a Bokmeyer assist with 8:12 remaining in the contest.
“I told the kids I was proud of them,” Army head coach Joe Alberici said. “I don’t feel we played our best lacrosse of the season but we played some of our toughest at the end of the game. After being down 18-12 in ground balls, we made it 19-8 in the second half. We outshot them 17-7 in the second half. Our guys battled through and found a way to win. There were some frustrating things for us but we were able to work through it and come out with the victory.”
Alex Rhoads had a goal and assist, his first points of the season, and Jason Peyer added a goal as the Black Knights improved to 17-2 all-time against Lehigh and helped avenge an 8-7 Lehigh win a year ago.
Army goalie Adam Fullerton faced 20 shots and was credited with nine saves, two of them coming in the final quarter when Lehigh did not score.
David Gaunt scored three goals for Lehigh, which fell to 2-4 overall and 1-2 in Patriot League play. Goalie Eric Spirko made 11 saves.
Bokmeyer scored his team-leading 10th goal of the season with three minutes left in the first quarter off a Korvin pass to tie the game at one. Stephen Martin put Lehigh back up by a goal but Rhoads answered off Korvin’s second assist to tie the game with 13 minutes left in the first half.
Korvin scored his first goal four minutes later but Gaunt scored twice, with four minutes left in the first half and 28 seconds into the third quarter, for a 5-3 Lehigh lead.
Chase got the Black Knights within one at the 8:40 mark, converting a Bokmeyer pass. Alex Hooff then scored an unassisted goal to give the Mountain Hawks a 6-4 advantage with 1:09 left in the third quarter.
Korvin, off a Ryan McClure feed, closed the gap just nine seconds later. Peyer scored his sixth goal of the season with seven seconds left in the quarter, off of Rhoads’ assist, to knot the game at six.
“Brooks is a guy who played midfield for us last year and is a very athletic kid,” Alberici said. “He is a guy that as we go along in the season will continue to make more and more plays as he gains more experience. Two goals and two assists, plus five ground balls, is a real good day for him.”
Chase then slammed home the game-winner with 8:12 remaining in the game. Fullerton, and a stifling defense, made the lead stand up and keep Army unbeaten in conference play.
Army, in the midst of a three-game home stretch, will host Service Academy rival Air Force, Saturday at noon at Michie Stadium.
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