The Brown & White

The men's lacrosse team lost, 11-5, to No. 10 Bucknell University Friday night at the Ulrich Sports Complex.

With the loss, the Mountain Hawks sit at fifth place in the Patriot League, with a 2-4 league record, and will not be able to clinch a playoff spot.

With the win, Bucknell rose to 9-2 on the season and 4-1 in league play, good for second place in the league.

Five Hawks scored goals on Friday, but it was not enough against the Bison offense.

Freshman midfielder Jonathan Stumpf, senior midfielder Fred Cassily, junior attackers Ricky Cornetta and Max Dahlem along with sophomore attacker Brian Bienemann each scored a point for their squad.

Head Coach Kevin Cassese said the loss did not reflect a lack of effort on the team's part.

"Obviously we're disappointed, because for us going to the Patriot League [tournament], that sort of sealed our fate," Cassese said. "All the credit goes to Bucknell. Those kids played hard. Our guys played hard, but they made a bunch of more plays then we did and that's what it's all about."

After Lehigh held the Bison to only three goals in the first quarter, Cassese said Bucknell was able to get its offense rolling in the second quarter, putting a strain on Lehigh's defense.

"We are asking our defense to hold people under five goals, and that's a hard thing to do," Cassese said.

Bucknell went on a three-goal run to start the second, before Lehigh took a time-out with 8:17 left in the quarter. The Hawks came back with a goal by Dahlem less than two minutes after the time-out.

Bucknell continued to attack hard offensively, netting two more goals before the end of the half.

The Hawks headed into halftime down 8-3 and were unable to catch up, despite goals by Cassily and Cornetta.

Despite the loss, Cassese said he never doubted the work ethic of his team.

"I think, as always, throughout the entire year our guys play extremely hard," he said. "The guys were ready to play and they were excited, we just couldn't make the plays when they mattered the most."

Cassese said the team had a hard time setting up offensive plays.

"We struggled all year scoring goals, and our defense has been on point for pretty much all of the season," Cassese said.

The Hawks have relied heavily on Cornetta and Dahlem for offensive production.

Dahlem leads the squad with 16 goals and four assists. Cornetta follows suit with 15 goals and nine assists.

The Hawks have one game left in the season against No. 7 University of Notre Dame.

Cassese said the team will play just as hard as in any other game.

"It's just another opportunity to get better," he said. "There is motivation all over the place. For the seniors, it's their last game at home, and for the young guys, it's their time to step up and start focusing on the future."

The Bison were led offensively by junior attack Joe Mele with three goals and sophomore attack Austin Winter with one goal and five assists.

The Hawks will face off against the Fighting Irish on April 20 at 1 p.m. at the Ulrich Sports Complex.

Before the start of Friday night's game, Adam Recke, a nine-year-old Allentown resident and the team's honorary captain, faced-off against senior midfielder Stuart Baxter.

Adam, one of only 150 Americans with the condition, suffers from Niemann-Pick disease, a type of Alzheimer's found in children. The Recke family is working to spread awareness of the disease and to raise money to combat it. For more information about Adam or Niemann-Pick disease, go to raceforadam.org.