{"id":48118,"date":"2025-04-22T14:19:08","date_gmt":"2025-04-22T18:19:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/?p=48118"},"modified":"2025-04-22T14:47:22","modified_gmt":"2025-04-22T18:47:22","slug":"mens-lacrosse-barnes-sets-career-high-in-decisive-victory-over-lehigh","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/2025\/04\/22\/mens-lacrosse-barnes-sets-career-high-in-decisive-victory-over-lehigh\/","title":{"rendered":"Men\u2019s Lacrosse: Barnes Sets Career High in Decisive Victory Over Lehigh"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Kasie Costalas<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

The Boston University men\u2019s lacrosse team (9-4, 5-2 PL) defeated Lehigh (5-8, 4-3 PL) 12-7 in a Patriot League matchup at Nickerson Field on Saturday afternoon.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOur guys played with confidence, they believed in one another, and I just thought we made plays when we needed to,\u201d said Coach Ryan Polley.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Terriers never trailed their opponent, starting with faceoff specialist Madden Murphy\u2019s first career goal. Although Lehigh boasts the conference\u2019s number one fo-go, Murphy, ranked second, won the first possession and capitalized on a fast break, scoring just six seconds into the game. He was able to secure another six faceoffs on the day, in addition to three ground balls and an assist.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Despite BU\u2019s early momentum, the first quarter was highly competitive. The two teams went back and forth with scoring and ended the period tied, 2-2.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Early in the second quarter, the Terriers reclaimed their lead as freshman Andrew Pape scored just 33 seconds in. Jimmy O\u2019Donnell scored his only goal of the day less than one minute later after rolling the crease and firing a low-to-high shot.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Mountain Hawks were able to score two goals of their own, but Jimmy Kohr, who led the game in points, was able to bury his first two of four goals on the day. Pape, driving 1 on 1 on his defender, also scored his second to finish the half with a dominant 7-4 lead.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Lehigh\u2019s defense found a heightened level of aggression in the second half, but the Mountain Hawks were unable to get within three goals for the rest of the game thanks to BU\u2019s star goalie, Will Barnes.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Barnes made an astonishing 23 saves, stopping 76.6% of Lehigh\u2019s shots, to top the career high he set earlier this season against Army. Going into the weekend, he had the 9th highest save percentage in the country, which has now increased by over two points.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWill was just awesome. He made all of the saves we needed him to make,\u201d said Polley. \u201cHe\u2019s been our best player all year, and when we needed him most, he stepped up.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Barnes also showed off his athleticism and aggression outside of the crease. Late in the third quarter, after Lehigh managed to score two in a row, Barnes collected an unforced turnover in front of the net. He ran the ball past the top of the box to kickoff a fast break, which led to sophomore Luke Davis\u2019 first goal of the season.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Lehigh\u2019s Luke Winkler led his team with three goals, and although he managed to score their only goal of the fourth quarter, the BU victory was already secured.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Tyler Fox started the scoring off for the period. Kohr followed with his final two goals, including one scored off a defensive ground ball-turned-assist from defender Connor Kehm. Kehm also collected four ground balls to add to his team-leading total for the season. He also leads the Terriers in caused turnovers with 25, which has earned him 7th place in the NCAA.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

BU\u2019s 5-2 Patriot League record has already secured them a spot in the quarter finals. Currently second in the conference, the team hopes to pull out a victory next week to maintain their ranking.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The offensive chemistry that has been on full display throughout the Terriers’ season was undeniable at Nickerson Field on Saturday, as they connected on eight assists and boasted eight goal-scorers on the day.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

O\u2019Connell led the off-ball effort with three assists, tying Kohr with four points. O\u2019Connell now leads the Terriers with 53 points this season.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI have all faith in my teammates and I that we will get it done and hopefully clinch whatever seed that we can and then keep all of our momentum rolling into the postseason,\u201d said Kohr.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Terriers will host Colgate in their final regular season game at Nickerson Field during their Senior Night on April 25 at 6 p.m.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Kasie Costalas The Boston University men\u2019s lacrosse team (9-4, 5-2 PL) defeated Lehigh (5-8, 4-3 PL) 12-7 in a Patriot League matchup at Nickerson Field on Saturday afternoon.\u00a0 \u201cOur guys played with confidence, they believed in one another, and I just thought we made plays when we needed to,\u201d said Coach Ryan Polley. The […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24801,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1023,1026,1029,19],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48118"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24801"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=48118"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48118\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":48120,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48118\/revisions\/48120"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48118"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48118"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48118"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}