By just about any standard, Jackson Eicher was already having a very good year for the undefeated Army men’s lacrosse team.
The senior attackman took it up a few notches Saturday. Eicher, who has scored 16 goals and added 21 assists in the Black Knights’ first six games, added six more goals and another assist to power Army to a convincing 13-4 victory over Lehigh in Bethlehem, Pa.
The victory moved No. 3 Army to 7-0 on the season and 3-0 in the Patriot League. With No. 2 Princeton losing at Cornell on Saturday, Army is almost certain to move to second in the national rankings when polls are released Monday.
It has been an interesting journey for Eicher at West Point. Slated to start his sophomore year, he ended up sitting out the entire season with a lower-body injury that occurred right before the start of the season. He rebounded last year, scoring 37 goals and 21 assists as part of a multi-faceted offense for the Black Knights.
Now a senior leader, Eicher has again been a steady influence on this offensive unit. But, up until Saturday’s contest where he converted six of 11 shots, he seemed as content to create scoring opportunities for his teammates as trying to add another goal to his own score sheet. He has 22 assists thus far this year.
“Just take a look at what Jackson has done for us the last two weeks,” Army coach Joe Alberici said. “He gives us what we need. Last week we needed a passer and he had five assists. This week, we needed him to score and he put the ball in the net three straight times to start the game and finished with six goals. Jackson has great lacrosse knowledge and the ability to take what the defense will give him.”
Eicher was just one part of the story against Lehigh. Once again, Army’s defensive unit, rated the best in the nation in fewest goals allowed, rose to the occasion, holding an opponent to less than six goals for the sixth time this season.
Lehigh managed just 15 shots on goal in the contest and a combination of starting goalie Sean Byrne and backup Evan Richardson stopped 11 of them.
“We were able to play incredible defense and continue our great goaltending this year with Sean in net,” said Alberici, noting that junior defenseman John Sullivan held his Lehigh assignment to no goals this week after he scored five goals last weekend. He also called senior Christian Mazar “the best short-stick midfielder in lacrosse.”
And, for a coach who sometimes likes to hold back on his compliments, Alberici was throwing around a lot of them.
“We just dominated them in every aspect of the game with the exception of the faceoff where they are just very good,” he said. “Offensively, I saw some pretty efficient scoring in different ways, including two goals off the ride and two off transitions. Lehigh does not have an impressive a record (2-5, 1-1 Patriot), but they have played very good lacrosse, including beating Navy last week. I thought our guys played outstanding. It was a great win and a great win on the road.”
