April 25, 2007

Box Score

PHILADELPHIA - The Saint Joseph's men's lacrosse team secured a spot in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference tournament by defeating Wagner, 11-3, Wednesday afternoon at Finnesey Field. The tournament bid is the fourth in program history. The win, closing out conference action and home play, brings the Hawks to 5-10 overall and 5-3 in the MAAC. Seniors Zach Charles, Kyle Hofstaedter, Alex McColough, Mike O'Neill and Russell Thorn were honored before the game for their time on Hawk Hill.

The Hawks jumped out to an early lead, scoring two goals in the first quarter and adding another three in the second taking the score to 6-0 going into the break. Steve O'Brien, Chris O'Neill, Chad Dudley and Peter Slowik (2) accounted for the goals with assists from Mike O'Neill and Alex Lopes (2). Chris O'Neill netted his second goal of the game at 6:50 in the third quarter to round out the Hawks' six-goal streak. Lopes earned his third assist of the day on the play.

SJU held Wagner scoreless for 40:40 before the Seahawks got on the board at 4:20 in the third quarter. Matt Ryan recorded his first career goal when he found the back of the net on at 1:42. The Hawks continued to dominate in the last quarter, scoring four more goals and allowing only two. Steve Varga opened up the period with a man-up goal off a pass from Chris O'Neill 30 seconds in. Lopes converted a pass from Mike O'Neill for his eighth goal of the season and Chris O'Neill completed his hat trick with an assist from O'Brien at 9:50. Dudley closed out the Hawk scoring with his second of the game at 4:19.

Sophomore goalkeeper RJ Bopf earned the win after starting the game and recording 45:15 and two saves. Chase Stewart also got to see time, playing the final 14:45 and earning four saves for the Hawks. Saint Joseph's out-shot Wagner 32-18 and scooped up 26 groundballs.

The Hawks return to action Saturday, April 28th when they travel to Penn State. Opening face-off is set for 7:00 pm. Gametracker will be available through sjuhawks.com