Men's Lacrosse Heads to Lehigh on Tuesday

PHILADELPHIA - The University of Pennsylvania lost its first road game of the season on Saturday, 15-12 at Denver, but there is little rest for the Quakers as they turn right around and face Lehigh Tuesday night in Bethlehem, Pa. The 18th-ranked Quakers and the No. 19 Mountain Hawks will start at 7 p.m. at the Ulrich Sports Complex.

GAME 4 - #18 PENN (2-1) at #19 LEHIGH (3-2)
Tuesday, March 5, 2013 * 7 p.m.
Ulrich Sports Complex (Bethlehem, Pa.)
TV: LehighSports.com (there is a charge for this service)

Click here for Live Stats!

The Series with Lehigh
The Quakers and the Mountain Hawks have met 40 times in men's lacrosse, with Penn holding a 26-14 series lead. These teams have played just six times so far this century, with Penn winning four of the matchups. Last year at Franklin Field in Philadelphia, Lehigh rolled to a 10-4 victory.

About Lehigh
The Mountain Hawks (3-2) are looking to make a clean sweep of the Philly schools, having already defeated Saint Joseph's (14-1) and Villanova (11-9) this season. Their losses have come to Denver (18-10) and Air Force (15-10). David DiMaria leads Lehigh with 14 goals, 15 assists and 29 points. Dan Taylor has 19 points (12g, 7a) and Dante Fantoni has 16 (10g, 6a). Kyle Stiefel has scored six goals, while Patrick Corbett has five. In goal, Matt Poillon has three starts (8.93 goals-against average, .545 save percentage) but Griffin Farha made the start Saturday and had nine saves while allowing just two goals to VMI.

Penn in the Independence Classic
This Saturday, for the second straight season, Penn will participate in one of Inside Lacrosse's premium events. This year, it is the inaugural Whitman's Sampler Independence Classic which will be held at PPL Park in Chester (home of Major League Soccer's Philadelphia Union). The Quakers will face off with regional rival Villanova at 2:30, sandwiched between games pitting Syracuse against St. John's (noon) and Penn State against Lehigh (5 p.m.).
     Ticket prices to the Whitman's Sampler Independence Classic are $45 for club seats; $35 for midfield reserved seats; $25 for sideline reserved locations; $20 for groups of 10 or more; and $15 for groups of 100 or more. Parking can also be purchased in advance for $15.
     Fans can call ComcastTix at 800-298-4200, visit PhiladelphiaUnion.com or IndependenceClassic.com to get the latest news on the event and ticket details.

About Penn
*Penn had eight different goalscorers in the season opener against Duke, six players scored the six goals last Tuesday against Saint Joseph's, and seven different players scored Saturday at Denver.

*Penn is averaging 10.67 goals per game so far this season; last year the Quakers averaged 7.85 goals per game, two years ago it was 8.20 per contest.

*Penn has outscored its opponents in the fourth quarter, 10-4, so far this season.

*Penn is outshooting its three opponents by an average of 44.0 to 31.0 so far this season.

*Penn has outshot its opponents 77-32 in the second half this year (38-14 in the third quarter, 39-18 in the fourth).

*When Penn and Duke played at Franklin Field in 2011, the final score was 7-3; on February 22, the teams combined for more goals before the first quarter was over (it ended with Penn up, 6-5).

*The Duke win was Penn's first over a ranked opponent since March 6 of last season, when the Quakers defeated then-No. 8 North Carolina, 10-6.

*Penn scored 14 goals against the Blue Devils, its best offensive output since April 3, 2010 when the Quakers lost to Yale, 16-14.

*Senior Tim Schwalje was Penn's top returning leading scorer, and he is leading the team this season in goals (7), assists (6) and points (13). He has had hat tricks against Duke and Denver.

*Schwalje has a point in 15 straight games after scoring in every game last season.

*Sophomore Isaac Bock scored once last season; he had four last against Duke, while also adding an assist, and then scored a goal Saturday at Denver.

*In his collegiate debut, freshman Nick Doktor scored twice; in fact, in his first quarter as a collegian he scored twice; classmate Mark Leonhard also scored in his first collegiate game; he had an assist Saturday at Denver.

*After a stellar freshman campaign in 2011, Drew Belinsky broke his ankle prior to his sophomore season and never seemed to fully get over it. After three games this season, the junior has recorded four goals and two assists.

*Senior Ryan Parietti has three goals and an assist this season (1g, 1a vs. Duke; 1g vs. SJU; 1g at Denver); he had 16 goals and 20 points last season, good for fourth on the team in both categories, while Belinsky had 11 points (6g, 5a).

*Classmate Zack Losco had a hat trick Saturday at Denver and has scored a goal in every game so far this season as he has made the jump to the first midfield unit for this season.

*Sophomores Will Laco and Chris Hupfeldt, both of whom saw no game action last year, have scored in each of the last two games.

*Senior defenseman Anthony Santomo scored against Duke, the team's only long-stick goal so far this season; it was the captain's first collegiate goal. (He is joined as a captain by classmates Schwalje and Brendan Engelke, and junior Maxx Meyer.)

*Junior Danny Feeney has taken a majority of Penn's faceoffs this season (45 of 72); he has a .511 win percentage on the X after winning eight of his 14 faceoffs Saturday at Denver.

*Sophomore Joe McCallion, who is running on the second midfield, has taken the other 27 faceoffs this season and has a .481 win percentage.

*In goal, junior Brian Feeney struggled in the first quarter of the first two games (4 saves, 7 goals allowed) but responded the rest of the way (19 saves, 7 goals allowed). On Saturday, he had just six saves against Denver.

*Feeney has been Penn's No. 1 almost his entire career, and last year he had a 9.44 goals-against average and a .487 save percentage.

*Penn welcomes two former Quaker football players to the roster this season, seniors Dave Twamley and C.J. Mooney. Both players were starters on defense for the Ivy League champs this fall -- in fact, they won three rings during their tenure on the gridiron -- and Twamley was a second-team All-Ivy recipient. Twamley saw action in the season-opening win over Duke.