April 18, 2009
Box Score
PHILADELPHIA--The Saint Joseph's men's lacrosse team received two fourth-period goals from Sean Evans to rally the Hawks past Marist, 9-7, in MAAC Lacrosse action on Senior Day at Finnesey Field. Chris O'Neill scored the game-tying goal to open the fourth, while Erik Hotaling made 13 saves to preserve the victory.
Saint Joseph's (5-8, 3-4 MAAC) used three straight goals to end the game to overcome a 7-6 deficit entering the fourth period. The Hawks had the benefit of a Marist penalty on Zach Badalucco with just two seconds left in the third to give SJU a man-up opportunity beginning in the fourth. O'Neill ripped his fourth goal of the season off an Alex Lopes helper to tie game at 7-7 with 14:46 remaining.
SJU held possession for much of the final stanza and finally capitalized on a Marist (4-7, 4-2 MAAC) defensive lapse that allowed Evans to enter the middle of the field unchecked to score what would turn out to be the game-winner with 8:37 remaining. Ian Kelly fed Evans on the play for his first assist of the season.
With 5:39 to go, Evans would cap his four-point day when he took a Joey D'Avanzo dish to the cage and put it away for an insurance goal.
The 3-0 fourth-period run helped stop a 4-0 run by Marist that stretched from late in the second period until the end of the third. The Red Foxes were down 6-3 with less than a minute to play in the second but tallied two goals in the final 21 seconds to be down just a goal at halftime, 6-5.
Marist scored the only two goals in the third period, both even-strength goals from Evan Guarini to give the Foxes their first lead of the game.
Saint Joseph's opened the game with two straight goals by Scott Cullinan and Charlie Gorman, each of which was their 14th of the year. Gorman helped Cullinan on the first and Evans provided the assist on Gorman's tally.
Two straight Marist goals knotted things up with 5:35 remaining in the first on a man-up goal. After the play, SJU's Pat Harner was sent off the field for a three-minute illegal stick penalty, which the Hawks successfully killed off. Saint Joseph's was 6-for-8 on the penalty kill, while SJU went 1-for-2 on the man-up.
Cullinan scored again on an unassisted marker with 1:51 to go, ending the scoring in the first, but Marist responded with a man-up goal to open the second and tie the game at three again.
Three different scorers for Saint Joseph's let the Hawks go on a 3-0 run thanks to Joey D'Avanzo, Tom Dunn, and Sean Evans over a seven-minute stretch midway through the period for a 6-3 lead. Keith Belson tallied his first assist of his career on the Dunn goal.
The Hawks out-shot Marist, 34-28, which included a 23-14 edge in the second and fourth quarters. SJU out-scored the Red Foxes, 6-3 in those frames, which saw Hotaling make 10 of his 13 saves.
Marist had a 22-20 edge in ground balls and a 12-5 advantage on the face-off. The Hawks were 24-for-26 in clearing attempts while Marist was 18-for-22. SJU had 16 turnovers, but forced 14 of the Foxes' 23 turnovers on the afternoon. R.J. Bopf and Tom Wengenosky had three caused turnovers each.
The Hawks celebrated Senior Day, which honored Chad Dudley, Sean Cullinan, John Harmonay, Ryan Tessler, Chris Cole, Matt Ryan, Paul Crisafulli, Pat Williams, Bopf, Hotaling, Lopes, O'Neill, and Wengenosky.
