No. 8 Men’s Lacrosse Falls to Lafayette

Friday, March 6

Easton, Pa.

7:30 p.m.

Army West Point

6-1, 1-1

Lafayette

5-2, 1-0

Army West Point

Lafayette

No. 8 Men’s Lacrosse Falls to Lafayette

March 06, 2026 | Men's Lacrosse

Box Score

EASTON, Pa. – In the squad's first night game of the season, the No. 8-ranked Army West Point men's lacrosse team (6-1, 1-1 Patriot League) made the trip to Easton, Pa. where the team took on the Lafayette Leopards (5-2, 1-0 Patriot League) in its second league matchup of the season.

The Black Knights fought valiantly on the road, but a second-half surge from the Leopards brought Army its first loss of the 2026 season.

Army led in multiple categories on the scoresheet including shots, shots on goal, ground balls, clears, faceoff wins, and caused turnovers.

Brayden Fountain led the Black Knights with five points and four goals, followed by three goals from Hill Plunkett.

HOW IT HAPPENED
The Black Knights set a quick pace for the game from the get-go as Hill Plunkett scored his first goal of the game and 12^th goal of the season 43 seconds into the game to open the scoring in Army's favor after a quick ground ball pickup from Robert Simone.

Army carried the momentum for the next few minutes, and the Black Knights' next goal came from a surprising source as senior goalkeeper Sean Byrne scored his second career goal from the Army 25-yard line to take the Black Knights up 2-0.

The Leopards lept into action to halt the Army advance, scoring three goals throughout the middle of the first frame to seize a 3-2 lead before the Black Knights could mount a counterattack.

Army's yearlings jumped into action as Tyler Clark fed Brayden Fountain in open space on the goal-front to tie the game at three goals each with four minutes on the clock before Fountain then found Hill Plunkett with a cross-crease pass to take the Black Knights to a 4-3 lead that held through to the first intermission.

Gunnar Fellows kept the momentum in Army's favor as the second quarter began, scoring his 100^th career goal with 1:12 elapsed off the second quarter clock.

Lafayette's squad fought to challenge the Black Knights, but Fountain found the back of the net next as he scored his second goal of the game just after the nine-minute mark on the setup from Cal Lambert to take Army ahead by three.

The Leopards' pressure paid off with five and a half minutes left on the clock to bring the game within two, but Fountain earned his ninth career hat-trick as he scored with two minutes left on the clock to restore Army's three goal lead just in time for halftime.

Both teams emerged from the halftime break on a hot pace, but the third quarter belonged to the defenders as both defenses caused shot clock violations and failed clears on each side of the field and the score held until after the mid-point of the quarter.

Lafayette's offense found a new groove with six minutes remaining in the quarter as they scored two goals in 35 seconds to draw within one goal of the Black Knights.

Army's offense answered the call and Hill Plunkett earned his second hat trick of the season after a barrage of passes around the Army offensive zone to restore the Black Knights to a two-goal lead with four and a half minutes on the clock.

The Black Knights continued to press the Leopards' defense, but Army carried its 8-6 lead into the third quarter break.

Lafayette refused to give in in front of their home crowd and the Leopards cut Army's lead to one goal once more just 30 seconds into the final quarter of regulation to set the tone for a highly-contested fourth quarter.

The two teams locked horns throughout the next seven minutes, but the Leopards broke the stalemate with seven minutes left on the clock to bring the game tied at eight goals apiece.

Lafayette capitalized on the energy from their eighth goal and they tallied back-to-back goals within seven seconds of each other at the four-minute mark to surge to a two-goal lead of their own.

The Black Knights battled hard to cut into Lafayette's late lead and Fountain earned his fourth goal of the night just shy of the two-minute mark after the Black Knights capitalized on a scramble from the Leopards.

Lafayette's defense locked in for the final two minutes of play and Army fell on the road.

BLACK KNIGHT NOTES

Army led in multiple categories on the scoresheet including shots (46-32), shots on goal (28-20), ground balls (29-27), clears (21-19), faceoff wins (14-9), and caused turnovers (10).
Gunnar Fellows earned his 100^th career goal as he scored Army's fifth goal of the game.
Brayden Fountain led the Black Knights with five points and four goals. Hill Plunkett followed with three goals.
Robert Simone led all players with eight ground balls.
Drew Miller and Tommy Stines tied for a game-high two caused turnovers.