Nov. 13, 2012
PHILADELPHIA - Coming off of a three-season stretch in which the Saint Joseph's men's soccer team won only four games combined, the Hawks saw an undeniable amount of progress through increased development and sparked talent in the 2012 season. Led by a trio of captains in seniors Tim Brennan and Andrew D'Ottavi and junior Pat McGlynn, Saint Joseph's concluded this season with a 5-11-2 overall record while going 1-6-2 in conference action.
The Hawks kicked off the 2012 season in promising fashion as they soared past Hartwick in a 2-1 overtime thriller to earn their first opening-day win on Finnesey Field since 2002. Junior midfielder Jimmy Reilly made the first goal of his collegiate career a big one as he netted the game-winner in the 95th minute while sophomore defender Tommy Brooks scored his first collegiate goal in the match as well off of a header in the fourth minute. With the win, the Hawks broke a 12-home-game losing streak that dated back to October 22, 2010.
"Opening day was a statement on where we're going as a program," said head coach Don D'Ambra. "We wanted this year to be a big step in the right direction. The game had good energy and execution, and it was good to see Tommy and Jimmy step up and take initiative. A game like that set the tone for the season, and it was really good to see them set that tone for us, especially now as we move forward for next year."
After falling to NJIT, 2-0, and St. Francis, 5-1, with SJU's lone goal coming from McGlynn, the Hawks traveled to Lexington, Ky. to compete in the UK Invitational from September 7-9. The squad dropped two 2-0 matches to host Kentucky and Stony Brook, but the seniors were acknowledged for their individual performances as D'Ottavi and Brennan were both named to the 2012 University of Kentucky All-Tournament team. D'Ottavi doubled his saves per game average in the second and third weeks of the season, averaging 5.3 saves per game against St. Francis, Kentucky, and Stony Brook combined in comparison to 2.5 saves per game in his first two outings of the season.
"All three captains did a great job this year of showing good leadership on the field," said D'Ambra of Brennan, D'Ottavi, and McGlynn. "Timmy set a good example for the younger guys, and that's the epitome of a good captain. Andrew was a vocal leader; he was always upbeat and he earned recognition because of his good play. Pat's been a hard worker all year, and it was a great experience for him to be in that role; I think he's going to step up and contribute more in the captain role next year."
Standing at 1-4 after the first half of the non-conference season, the Hawks returned to Finnesey Field to face Rider on Alumni/Family Day. In a span of 49 minutes, sophomore forward Alex Critzos became the team's leading scorer as he netted two goals, the second as the game-winner. In between Critzos's goals, Brennan added to SJU's offensive dominance by recording his first collegiate goal as Saint Joseph's defeated Rider, 3-0. D'Ottavi earned his first shutout of the season off of the four-save effort en route to being named the Philadelphia Soccer Six Defender of the Week for the week ending September 16.
Back on the road, the Hawks dropped a 3-2 match to #24 Cornell despite a nine-save effort by D'Ottavi before the next two games saw the breakthrough of freshman midfielder Tim Lazorko. The freshman and senior would pair up to earn a win for the squad as Lazorko netted his first collegiate goal in the 81st minute and D'Ottavi recorded his second shutout of the season in a 1-0 win over Bucknell. Just four days later, Lazorko would go on to score the first goal of a 2-1 overtime win over Loyola (Md.), with sophomore midfielder Jake Nelson coming through with a successful penalty kick to give the Hawks their second consecutive win. For their efforts in the pair of wins, Lazorko was named both the Atlantic 10 and Philadelphia Soccer Six Rookie of the Week while Nelson earned Philadelphia Soccer Six Player of the Week honors for the week ending September 30. With the victory, the Hawks doubled their amount of wins from the 2011 season and totaled their combined number of wins from the previous three seasons. The second of the back-to-back wins also gave the Hawks a two-game winning streak for the first time since 2008.
"Alex and Jake both got a lot of minutes last year as freshmen, but this season they really stepped up and were consistent for us all year," said D'Ambra of his sophomore duo. "They've both matured but have the potential to be much better . . . We ask a lot of them for sophomores, but at the same time, they're both talented players and they can continue to grow. Alex was our steady forward day-in and day-out and Jake is very good on the ball, and as well as they did, we feel that when they mature more, they can be better."
Winning three of four in the second half of the non-conference season marked a turning point for the young Hawks team as the improvement became more evident with each play. The squad became more offensively aggressive toward the halfway-point of the regular season. In the first five games of non-conference play, the Hawks went 1-4 and fired off 54 total shots, an average of 10.8 shots per game. In the final four games in which the squad posted a 3-1 record, SJU rocketed 70 total shots, an average of 17.5 shots per game, a near seven-shot increase from the opening half of non-conference play. Additionally, the Hawks increased their shot on goal numbers, improving from 4.4 shots on goal per game to six while decreasing opponents' numbers from 6.6 to 5.75.
Kicking off Atlantic 10 action at home, SJU dropped two tight games at Finnesey, including a 2-1 overtime-heartbreaker to Duquesne in the conference opener and a match against St. Bonaventure that held a 2-2 draw until the 84th minute. Critzos and Lazorko contributed for the Hawks as Critzos netted two of the weekend's three goals and Lazorko assisted on both goals while tallying one of his own.
After dropping a 2-0 road match to Massachusetts, the Hawks earned their first win of the conference at Rhode Island largely in part to an off-the-bench all-star performance from freshman forward Emmanuel Temeh. Temeh's first collegiate goal, an equalizer, came just under two minutes after subbing into the game while his second goal, the overtime game-winner, came just under two minutes into overtime. For his two-goal performance in the 3-2 overtime victory, Temeh was named both the Atlantic 10 and Philadelphia Soccer Six Rookie of the Week for ending October 14.
"Emmanuel has a lot of raw talents and good athletic ability, speed, and explosiveness," said D'Ambra. "This year was a great learning experience for him. He is an extremely hard worker and is determined; if he can make the adjustments to this level in the next year or two, he could really contribute."
A pair of losses to #23 Saint Louis and Butler brought the Hawks to 1-5 in the A-10, but the record does not justify nor demonstrate the undeniable strides in improvement made by the 2012 squad. With the exception of a 2-0 loss to Massachusetts, the Hawks proved to be fierce competitors in all other conference losses as they held ties with Duquesne until the 95th minute of overtime, St. Bonaventure until the 84th minute, #23 Saint Louis until the 71st minute, and Butler until the 89th minute.
A result of a talented core of young players, SJU netted seven shots in the first two-thirds of the conference season, doubling last season's amount of goals scored at the same point. Junior goalkeeper Michael Moulton posted a solid defensive showing in his first start of the season, allowing just one goal against nationally-ranked Saint Louis, while Lazorko received Philadelphia Soccer Six Rookie of the Week honors once more for the week ending October 21 for tallying his fifth goal of the season in the Saint Louis/Butler home weekend finale.
"Hopefully they can learn from being in the situation of losing all of those close games," said D'Ambra. "Hopefully they can handle them a little bit better next year and have a little more confidence and savvy in those late-game situations."
The offensive spark of the younger experience gave way to the defensive strength of the veterans as perhaps the season's most impressive defensive pair of games came on the weekend of October 26-28. The Hawks' defensive back line of D'Ottavi, Brooks, junior Brendan Reilly, and sophomore Brandon Stevis shut down La Salle's and Fordham's offense, allowing just one goal on 58 combined shots. All four Hawk defenders played every minute of both double overtime games, totaling 220:00 each. D'Ottavi made a combined 22 saves on the weekend, including a season-high 12 saves against La Salle, to earn his second Philadelphia Soccer Six Defender of the Week accolades.
A 2-0 loss at Temple would end the season of a much improved and accomplished Hawks squad.
Although Saint Joseph's didn't reach the A-10 postseason, a duo of senior and freshman Hawks garnered A-10 postseason accolades, as well as additional team honors.
Brennan took home All-Academic honors for the second straight year, becoming the first SJU player to earn back-to-back All-Academic honors in nearly a decade, and was the recipient of SJU's Most Valuable Player award and Jack Dunn award, an honor given to the player that best exemplifies the leadership qualities and ambition of Saint Joseph's men's soccer pioneer, Jack Dunn.
"Timmy [Brennan] was very consistent all year long, on and off the field," said D'Ambra of his senior captain. "On the field, he moved around a lot and rarely had bad games, and off the field, he showed professionalism, accountability, and discipline."
The rookie half of the dynamic duo, Lazorko, was selected to the A-10 All-Rookie team and earned team honors in the categories of Offensive Player of the Year and Rookie of the Year.
"Timmy did excellent this year," said D'Ambra of Lazorko. "For a rookie to come in and make the impact that he did . . . He brings something a little bit different. He's a little more intense. He shows a lot of determination late in the game and other players feed off of that. He's very well-respected by his teammates, but this was also a learning year for him . . . If he continues to make adjustments, he can contribute even more. He has a bright future."
For his defensive dominance, B. Reilly was named the squad's Defensive Player of the Year.
"Brendan had an excellent year," said D'Ambra of his junior defensive standout. "He made a lot of adjustments to this level during his first two years. This season, he made a lot of great defensive stops. He was a great physical presence in the middle and was dangerous in terms of attacking with his long ball. We were happy with Brendan's role this year."
On the season as a whole, D'Ambra states, "Overall, we jumped on our offensive productivity this year, improving nearly 50% on goals scored, shots taken, and corner kicks, which means that we created more on the attack. This allowed us to be competitive. I feel the confidence this year grew as we started to win some of those tight games, like Loyola (Md.) and Bucknell. We had close A-10 games, and we could see the players growing. As the season went on, they really started to believe in themselves as a team . . . The players believe that they can win games now, and for as young as we are, that's a huge step in the right direction . . . We're not where we want to be, because we should have won more than five games, so from a record standpoint, we're not happy. But, with the way we played and competed, we're very happy with the season as a whole."
