Boxscore

Photos Courtesy of Mark Campbell

NEWARK, Del. -- The University of Delaware men's lacrosse team came up with another big effort and Mark Steverson (top right) scored a career-high three goals and also dished out an assist as the Blue Hens snapped a four-game losing streak with a 9-5 win over Lehigh Tuesday night at Rullo Stadium.

The Hens (3-6), who were coming off a 5-4 loss to Villanova Saturday, came up big on defense once again as they held the Mountain Hawks to just 29 shots and only one second half goal and goalkeeper Noah Fossner turned back 14 shots, marking his fourth straight double-figure save effort.

The five or less goals in consecutive games allowed by Delaware marked the first time the Hens have accomplished that feat since midway through last season when the Hens downed Villanova 8-4 and Lehigh 7-2 in consecutive games.

Lehigh (3-7), coming off a pair of impressive wins over Army and St. John's, had a two-game winning streak snapped as the Hens held leading scorer Ricky Cornetta, who entered the game ranked No. 14 nationally with 3.88 points per game, to a single goal.

Brian Bienemann and Max Dahlem each scored a goal and dished out an assist but no Lehigh player tallied more than one goal. Lehigh failed to convert on six man-up opportunities during the contest.

Steverson, a junior who had scored just three goals all season after moving into a starting spot earlier this month when starter Pat Lombard suffered a season-ending knee injury, netted his first career hat trick and got plenty of help as Curtis Dickson and Josh Coveleski (bottom right) each scored twice and Martin Cahill scored a goal and dished out two assists.

Both of Coveleski's goals came on the man-up variety in the third quarter and were part of five-goal run by the Blue Hen goals that helped Delaware overcome a 5-4 halftime deficit.

Dickson extended his point-scoring streak to 35 straight games, marking the fifth longest current streak among NCAA Division I players and the second longest in UD history. All-American and UD Athletics Hall of Fame member Anthony DiMarzo scored a point in a school-record 47 games for Delaware in 1992-95.

Delaware continued its dominance over Lehigh as the Hens downed the Mountain Hawks for the 25th straight time since 1972 and for the 13th straight time in Newark.

The teams played to a 2-2 tie after one quarter as Steverson scored one goal and assisted on another for the Hens while Lehigh’s Adam Johnston tallied with just 1:14 left to knot the score.

The Hens took a 3-2 lead just three minutes into the second half when Cahill fed Steverson for a goal, but the Hens went scoreless the rest of the stanza and Lehigh took a 4-3 lead into the break on goals by Cornetta and Bienemann.

Delaware dominated the third quarter to gain control of the game as the Hens outscored Lehigh 4-0 as Coveleski scored two man-up goals less than five minutes apart, Dickson tallied at the 3:28 mark, and Cahill hit the back of the net with just six ticks left in the stanza.

Dickson extended the Delaware lead to 8-4 on a goal with 9:35 left before Lehigh ended a 27-minute scoring drought on a goal by Cameron Lao-Gosney with 8:20 remaining. Steverson then iced the win for the Hens with this third goal of the night off a Dickson feed at the 2:26 mark.

The Hens will look to build on the win this Saturday when they travel to Providence, R.I. to take on No. 13 Brown (5-1) at 1 p.m.

AGATE:

Lehigh.......2.....2.....0.....1.....5
Delaware...2.....1.....4.....2.....9

Scoring Summary (Goals-Assists):
Delaware - Mark Steverson, 3-1; Curtis Dickson, 2-1; Josh Coveleski, 2-0; Martin Cahill, 1-2; Kevin Kaminski, 1-0; Grant Kaleikau, 0-1; Nick LoManto, 0-1; Justin Martinelli, 0-1.
Lehigh - Brian Bienemann, 1-1; Max Dahlem, 1-1; Ricky Cornetta, 1-0; Adam Johnston, 1-0; Cameron Lao-Gosney, 1-0; Will Scudder, 0-1.

Shots: L - 29, D - 37; Groundballs: L - 33, D - 33; Faceoffs: L - 7, D - 11; Clears: L - 17 of 19, D - 12 of 16; Extra Man Goals: L - 0 for 6, D - 2 for 7; Saves: L - 14 (Morgan Haller), D - 14 (Noah Fossner); Turnovers: L - 18, D - 20; Attendance: 285.