The Brown & White

Coming off a win on the road against Lafayette College last week, the men's lacrosse team will travel to face off against Colgate University in a Patriot League matchup Saturday.

The Mountain Hawks sit at 6-6 on the season and 2-2 in league play.

Colgate heads into Saturday's game after dropping its past two league contests to Navy and Army, respectively. The Raiders are 4-5 overall and 1-2 in league play.

Lehigh is 2-4 on the road this season.

Senior defender Tom Allen said this weekend's game will be crucial in determining how the league playoff race will turn out.

"This is a huge game for us," Allen said. "We are currently .500 in league games and, with two games left, a win against Colgate puts us in a great position to qualify for the Patriot League playoffs with at least three wins."

The last time Lehigh earned a spot in the postseason was in 2006 as the No. 4 seed. Navy is the only squad to claim a spot in the four-team tournament so far and Army can do the same Friday with a win over Bucknell University.

In their last meeting, Colgate and Lehigh were tied in the fourth quarter at 8-8, but the Raiders edged out the Hawks for a 10-8 victory.

Senior goalkeeper John Park said there is a definite history between the two teams.

"It seems like every year we play Colgate it's always a tight game and there seem to be playoff implications," Park said.

The Raiders lead the all-time series between the two teams 22-10 and have won the past two games, as well as six of the last seven. Colgate is 10-5 all-time against the Hawks in Hamilton.

Senior defender Dan Honeywell said the Hawks plan to come out with a vengeance.

"In my time here at Lehigh we have beat them once and lost to them twice, so I would like nothing more than to even the score," Honeywell said.

Senior midfielder Greg Furst said the team is expecting a tight game that may come down to the last couple minutes of play.

"Our games against Colgate are always hard-fought battles with only a one or two goal differential," Furst said.

However, Honeywell said Lehigh's game plan will not change from what they have been doing all season.

"Our approach to the upcoming game is the same as any other," Honeywell said. "Our coaches have done an unbelievable job in getting our team prepared for every game, and it certainly won't be any different for this one. The Colgate game is one of the most important games of the year."

Junior attack Ricky Cornetta leads the Lehigh offense with 13 goals and seven assists, while junior attack Max Dahlem follows suit for the Hawks with 15 goals and four assists thus far.

Senior midfielder Stuart Baxter is 77-74 in face-offs on the season, going 51 percent. Baxter also leads the team with 47 groundballs.

Senior goalkeeper Eric Spirko, who has 97 saves this season, will tend the net for the Hawks. Spirko has an 8.22 goals against average and .516 save percentage.

Junior Brandon Corp midfielder will lead the Raider attack with 22 goals and seven assists for 29 points on the season.

Honeywell also said the Hawks have some momentum coming into Saturday's matchup.

"We are not just coming off an emotional win against archrival Lafayette, but also a five-week period of two games a week," Honeywell said. "It should be a very exciting game."

Freshman defender Nate Stires said Lehigh has focused hard in practice this week since they have not had a game yet this week.

"Seeing as we don't have a midweek game this week, we are going to work hard during this coming week of practice in order to improve ourselves and to prepare for Colgate," Stires said.

Game time Saturday is set for 1 p.m. in Hamilton, N. Y. at Andy Kerr Stadium.