April 19, 2008

Box Score

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. - Saint Joseph's moved one step closer to clinching a MAAC Tournament berth with a resounding 9-4 win at Wagner on Saturday afternoon. Leading the way were Scott Cullinan (four goals) and Erik Hotaling (15 saves).

The Hawks, who have had some recent first period woes being outscored 13-1 in the last four first period, broke out of that funk, taking a quick 2-0 lead. Before seven minutes had passed, Chris O'Neill and Cullinan provided the offensive fire power. Each tallied a goal, while O'Neill assisted Cullinan's. Wagner was able to pull one back before the period was through to finish the first stanza at 2-1 in favor of the Crimson and Gray.

Although SJU bucked its first period trend, it continued its recent trend of playing stronger as the game worn on. Saturday was no difference, as Saint Joseph's tallied three straight goals stretched over two periods to put the Hawks up 5-1 with 14:01 left in the third period.

The 3-0 run was ignited by a Cullinan Brothers connection as Sean found his younger brother Scott for a second period tally. With 11 seconds remaining Alex Lopes fed Sean Evans to give the Hawks a 4-1 lead entering halftime. Scott Cullinan came out of the gate firing as he took a Laurent Dionot pass and took it to the house, for the four-goal lead.

SJU couldn't contain Wagner the rest of the half, giving up two goals to end the period, but the Hawks still held a two-goal lead entering the penultimate period. Evans again scored to stretch the lead two three thanks to a Joe D'Avanzo feed for a 6-3 lead just a minute into the fourth frame. Wagner tallied another with 7:45 to go for their last score of the game.

The Hawks would end the game on a 3-0 run thanks to Lopes's first goal of the year assisted by Evans, while Scott Cullinan scored his game high fourth goal with 3:49 to go to all but finish the game. Defenseman Tom Wengenosky got into the act with a minute left in the game with his second goal of the season to cap the scoring at 9-4.

Junior goalkeeper Erik Hotaling had a second straight stellar outing making 15 saves for Saint Joseph's. In the last two games, Hotaling has conceded just seven goals while making 28 saves on 55 shots faced.

Saint Joseph's moved to 4-3 in MAAC play with the win and 4-9 overall. The Hawks have just one MAAC game remaining to cap its conference regular season. Currently, SJU is in fourth and a win on Wednesday at Manhattan would clinch a second straight berth to the MAAC Tournament. The loss dropped Wagner to 0-12 overall and 0-6 in the MAAC.