The Brown & White

The men's lacrosse team looks to avenge Wednesday's 4-3 loss to No. 14 Army when it faces off against St. John's University on Saturday.

The Mountain Hawks are 4-5 on the season and 1-2 in league play.

St. John's is currently 0-5 on the season and 0-2 in the Eastern College Athletic Conference. The Red Storm lost their first conference game 11-8 to No. 17 Loyola College last week.

Lehigh comes into the game fresh off a victory over Villanova University last week, defeating the Wildcats 9-8.

Senior midfielder Greg Furst said the game will be competitive, and St. John's will be a difficult opponent.

"St. John's is a great, hard-nosed team," Furst said. "They'll put pressure on us for the full 60 minutes, but I believe we will come up with the win if we play an intense but composed four quarters."

Lehigh's offense is lead by junior attack Max Dahlem, senior midfielder Fred Cassilly and freshman midfielder Jon Stumpf.

Dahlem leads the team in goals with 12 and shots on goal with 43. He scored a game-high three goals in the team's victory over Villanova.

Cassilly is first on the team in assists, with seven, and contributed two goals against Villanova.

Stumpf, recently named Patriot League rookie of the week, has seven goals and 12 total points on the season.

Senior Red Storm midfielder Justin O'Donnell earned a spot on the ECAC honor roll with his four-goal performance against Loyola. O'Donnell leads the team in goals scored with eight, in total points with 10 and in shots on goal with 42.

Junior midfielder Malcolm Miles and junior attack Trevor Michaelsen will help O'Donnell lead the Red Storm's offense on Saturday.

Miles has three goals on the season while Michaelsen is second on the team in goals scored, with seven, and in total points with nine.

The Hawks started the season with several games against top opponents, including a 7-13 loss to No. 6 Drexel University and a 5-16 loss to No. 2 Duke University.

Furst said the losses to ranked teams were all learning experiences for the Hawks.

"We have had some tough losses to some great teams, but we're learning from those games," Furst said. "Almost all of our goals that we set coming into the season are still very much in reach."

Sophomore midfielder Kyle Gentile said the team's difficult schedule has only created opportunities to improve.

"We're a pretty young team, and I think we needed some time in the beginning of the season to find our identities and learn a little bit about ourselves as a team," Gentile said. "I think we have done that and are playing our best lacrosse right now."

Furst said the Hawks have high hopes for the rest of their season and are off to a good start. He hopes the team can remain undefeated at home through the rest of the season.

"Our sights are, and always have been, on winning the Patriot League tournament," he said.

Gentile said Head Coach Kevin Cassese, in his first season with the Hawks, and Assistant Head Coaches Taylor Wray and Brendan Callahan have been working hard to prepare their players as best they can for the Patriot League games and the rest of the season.

"The coaches have done a great job preparing us a little bit differently for each game so we don't get complacent," Gentile said. "We come into every game with a few wrinkles in our game plan and it keeps the team excited."

Furst said Cassese has done a great job at encouraging the team to push themselves and prepare for pressure situations.

"We are much more willing to push the tempo this year, and have been able to capitalize on a lot of fast break and beat-the-whistle opportunities," Furst said.

The Hawks are set to face off against the Red Storm at 2 p.m Saturday at Ulrich Sports Complex.