PHILADELPHIA (05/21/03) -- Despite falling short of a MAAC Championship and NCAA Tournament bid, the Saint Joseph's men's lacrosse team put together its best season in three years. The Hawks entered the MAAC Playoffs as a third seed and defeated Providence, 12-11 in overtime to advance to the championship game for the first time since 2000. Unfortunately, Mount St. Mary's was too much to handle and sent SJU packing without the automatic NCAA bid. Heading into the season, head coach Paul Perdue was faced with the challenge of molding a team that included a record 15 freshmen into a MAAC contender. The team took its lumps early on, dropping its first four games to non-conference foes Delaware, Colgate, Drexel and nationally ranked Rutgers. A bitter cold February forced the Crimson and Gray to use Pennsylvania's Franklin Field for its first three games of the season. Back home at the friendly confines of Finnesey Field, the Hawks opened the MAAC slate with a 9-7 win over Wagner. After an identical 9-7 win at Canisius, SJU walloped Marist 19-9 to get off to a 3-0 start in the league. Nationally ranked Villanova was next on the schedule, and the Hawks clawed for 60 minutes only to lose 7-4 to the nation's top defense. After a conference slipup at Siena, Saint Joseph's upended defending champion Manhattan on a wet Finnesey turf and after a two-week layoff hosted conference newcomer, VMI. After the Keydets tied the score with just 15 seconds remaining to force overtime, senior Alex Heidenberger saved the day with a goal nearly two minutes into the extra session. The win clinched a playoff berth and SJU held the top spot in the conference heading into the regular season's final two weekends. Road losses to Mount St. Mary's and Providence gave the Hawks the three seed and a matchup with the Friars in the MAAC Semifinals. There it was junior Brian Mullan who provided the heroics. The SJU NovaCare Athlete of the Month for March scored the game-winner 90 seconds into overtime to give the Hawks a 12-11 win. Despite strong goaltending from freshman Travis McDonnell (21 saves) in the championship, SJU fell to MSM in the finals 8-2. Heidenberger and senior Chris Spay were named to the all-tournament team. Mullan ended his season as the team's leading scorer (36 points) and playmaker (25 assists). The 25 assists ranked him second in the MAAC. Spay, an all-MAAC pick for the second straight year, scored 27 goals and added six assists, while Heidenberger led the team with 28 goals. Sophomore defender Marc Reynolds paced the squad with 78 groundballs, earning second-team all-MAAC honors in the process. Freshman Brian Borden led the team by winning 59% of his face-offs, good enough to rank among the nation's leaders. Sophomore Dan Morrissey saw most of the action in the cage, sporting a 9.95 GAA and a .546 save percentage. SJU finished with a 6-9 overall record and 5-3 mark in the MAAC.