There is no easy explanation for what happened to the Navy men’s lacrosse team during Saturday’s big Patriot League game against Lehigh.

The Midshipmen were seemingly in control of the contest before everything suddenly fell apart. Senior attackman Lucas Spence led the way as the Mountain Hawks outscored the Mids 11-2 over the final 24½ minutes on a windy day at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium.

Spence scored four goals and had two assists as No. 15 Lehigh dominated the second half and defeated Navy, 15-8, in a matchup between schools picked second and third in the Patriot League preseason poll.

Senior attackman Tristan Rai totaled two goals and two assists for Lehigh (6-3, 4-0), which maintained first place in the Patriot League – just ahead of Loyola (6-2, 3-0).

Senior midfielder Alex Tumminello and freshman attackman Tommy Schelling both contributed two goals and an assist for the Mountain Hawks, who beat the home team 17-9 on faceoffs and 26-22 on ground balls.

“Early on in the first half I thought we were really getting outworked. Navy really got after it on the ground and we talked a lot about that at halftime,” Lehigh head coach Kevin Cassese said. “That’s kind of when the game turned, when we came up with more of those 50-50 ground balls.”

Goalie James Spence, younger brother of Lucas, recorded 17 saves as the Mountain Hawk switched to a zone defense in the second half and stymied the Midshipmen, who had scoreless stretches of 12 minutes in the third quarter and 11 minutes in the fourth.

“(Lehigh) sat in that zone and we really couldn’t break it down and get decent shots,” Navy head coach Rick Sowell said. “(Spence) made some nice saves, but we definitely took some shots we’d like to have back.”

Senior midfielder Ryan Wade posted four points on three goals and an assist to lead Navy (4-4, 2-2), which got off 44 shots in the game. It was the first career hat trick for Wade, who now has 99 career points.

“We had a few possessions throughout the game that felt like they were four minutes long. We were getting good shots, but they were just right at the goalie or off cage. I think it was just the placement of our shots,” said Wade, who has now notched at least a goal or an assist in 32 consecutive contests.

Freshman attackman Jack Sweeney scored two goals while senior midfielder Greyson Torain and sophomore attackman Christian Daniel added a goal and an assist apiece for the Midshipmen.

Bwagner@capgaznews.com

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Lehigh (6-3, 4-0)

3

1

6

5

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15

Navy (4-4, 2-2)

1

4

2

1

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8

GOALS: L – L. Spence 4, Rai 2, Tumminello 2, Schelling 2, Fitzpatrick 2, Klose, Cintron, Gaffney. N – Wade 3, Sweeney 2, Daniel, Torain, Foster. ASSISTS: L – Rai 2, L. Spence 2, Cintron, Kirst, Klose, Schellling, Tumminnello. SHOTS: L – 42. N – 44. SAVES: L – J. Spence 17. N – Kern 10. FACEOFFS: L – 17. N – 9. GROUND BALLS: L – 36. N – 22. TURNOVERS: L – 17. N – 11.