BETHLEHEM, PA -- Junior Marty Kupprion (Episcopal/Wallingford, PA) scored four goals for the second straight game and redshirt freshman Beau Davis (Broadneck/Annapolis, MD - at right) tallied both his goals in a two-minute span in the final quarter to give the Blue Hens some breathing room as the University of Delaware held off host Lehigh for a 10-9 non-league men’s lacrosse victory Saturday afternoon.

The Blue Hens, who jumped out to a quick 4-0 lead but had to come from behind for the win in the fourth quarter, improved to 2-0 on the season while Lehigh fell to 0-1. Delaware, off to a 2-0 start for the third straight season, has now defeated the Mountain Hawks 22 straight times since 1972.

Kupprion, who entered the season with just five career goals over two seasons but scored four in the season-opening win over Saint Joseph’s last Saturday, tallied four once again, including a goal that tied the game at 7-7 early in the final quarter. He became the first UD player to score four or more goals in consecutive games since Jason Lavey accomplished the feat vs. Hofstra and Towson in 2000.

Cam Howard (Tatnall/Wilmington, DE) added two goals and two assists, Davis scored twice, and Kupprion added an assist to lead the Blue Hens. Delaware held a slim 27-25 advantage in shots but used a 31-11 advantage on groundballs and All-American Alex Smith’s 17-6 edge in faceoffs to aid in the victory.

Lehigh got two goals and an assist from Jeff Wiener while Blake Best scored twice and Stephen Marino scored a goal and dished out three assists on the afternoon.

Howard scored the game’s first goal five minutes in and Kupprion followed with three straight goals of his own to stake the Blue Hens to a quick 4-0 lead early in the second quarter. But the Mountain Hawks came back with three straight of their own, including two by Best, to cut the lead to 4-3. The Hens took a 5-3 advantage into halftime as Howard scored his second goal with 1:51 left before the break.

Lehigh used a big third quarter to gain the lead. After Delaware’s Dan Deckelbaum scored with 8:04 left in the third to give the Hens a 6-4 lead, Lehigh’s Wiener scored two minutes later and Alec Hoof tied the game at 6-6 with 4:17 left. Wiener scored his second goal with 1:37 left in the third quarter to give Lehigh its first lead at 7-6.

But Delaware used another quick start, this time in the final quarter, to regain the lead. The Hens scored four straight times, tying the game at 7-7 on Kupprion’s goal just 1:09 into the final frame. Jarryd Knouse scored with 10:09 left to play and Davis followed with both of his goals in a span of one minute and 41 seconds, the second with 7:39 to go, to give UD a 10-7 advantage.

Lehigh’s Marino scored with 5:45 left and David Gaunt cut the lead to 10-9 with his lone goal at the 4:34 mark but the Hens held on the rest of the way to claim the win.

Boxscore