March 25, 2013

PHILADELPHIA - The Saint Joseph's men's lacrosse team (4-5, 0-1 CAA) will look for its first league win of the season at #14/14 Drexel (6-2, 1-0 CAA) this Wednesday, March 27. Game time is scheduled for 4:00 p.m. at Vidas Field.

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Saint Joseph's will look for its second win against Drexel in program history as the Hawks stand 1-19 all-time against the Dragons. On March 6 of last season, the Crimson and Gray fell, 8-4, in the CAA opener on Finnesey Field. Johnny Simanski and Kyle Williams scored one goal apiece while Will Farrell picked up five ground balls and caused a team-high three turnovers.

Drexel enters this Wednesday's game coming off of a 8-7 triple-overtime victory over fellow CAA opponent #7 Hofstra on Saturday afternoon. Ben McIntosh recorded a team-high three goals, including the game-winner, while Robert Church was good for one goal and three assists. Nick Zaputo went 9-of-20 (.450) from the faceoff en route to picking up a game-high nine ground balls while Cal Winkelman (3-1) made 12 saves in the win.

On the season, McIntosh leads all scorers with 20 goals while Church has compiled 32 points from 18 goals and 14 assists. Zaputo has picked up 56 ground balls and sports a .492 (90-of-183) from the faceoff. Winkelman sports a .532 saves percentage and 9.67 goals-against average.

"It's nice to have a quick turnaround after our game on Saturday," said Saint Joseph's head coach Taylor Wray. "We didn't feel that we performed that well on Saturday, so to have another conference game quickly to clean the slate a little bit is nice, but it's a formidable opponent. Drexel is strong all over the field, and their offense is really skilled. They're always a well-coached and gritty team. We'll look to have our hands full and have a great effort at their place."

Last Time Out: The Hawks dropped their CAA opener to #17/19 Penn State, 9-2, this past Saturday afternoon at the Penn State Lacrosse Field in University Park, Pa. The Nittany Lions jumped out to a 9-0 run that spanned the first two periods and most of the third before the Hawks got on the scoreboard. Williams scored his fourth goal of the season to put the Crimson and Gray on the scoreboard at the 7:00 mark of the third while freshman midfielder Bryan Garrahan recorded his second collegiate goal with 7:03 remaining in regulation to bring the Hawks to within seven. Sophomore defender Will Farrell picked up two ground balls and registered three of SJU's eight total caused turnovers. Sophomore goalkeeper Dustin Keen (4-5) tied his season-high saves (14) in a complete 60-minute effort.

Dominating Defense: Junior Jack Moran, sophomore Kevin Barrow, and Farrell have teamed up with Keen to destroy offensive attacks as the Crimson and Gray rank second in the CAA and 13th in the nation in scoring defense at just 8.25 goals allowed per game. With 60 games of experience combined between the three, the defensive trio has combined for 47 percent (28-of-60) of the team's caused turnovers.

Where There's a Will, There's a Way: Junior midfielder Will Abbott and Farrell have put forth tremendous performances on the defensive end of the field in the non-conference portion of the season. Abbott boasts a .497 (72-of-145) from the faceoff and ranks second on the team with 25 ground balls. The junior bounced back from a rough outing against Mercer with a .517 (15-of-29) at Brown and a season-high .696 (16-of-23) in Saint Joseph's 12-7 victory over Marquette. Farrell leads the team in ground balls (28) and caused turnovers (14) while combined, he and Abbott have totaled 22% (53-of-243) of the Hawks' total amount of ground balls.

A "Keen" Sense In Goal: Keen has stepped into the position vacated by 2012 graduate Griffin Ferrigan to emerge as a force to be reckoned with on the defensive end of the field. Making all nine starts on the season, Keen ranks third in the CAA in goals-against average (8.34) while standing 12th nationally.

Soaring Sophomores: The sophomore trio of attacks Matthew Franchak and Matthew Sarcona and midfielder Michael Dougherty have combined for 36 percent (24-of-66) of the Hawks' goals this season. After starting just two games each in their freshman campaigns, Sarcona and Franchak have started all nine games at the attack while Dougherty has made seven starts in eight games played en route to a team-high six assists.

Freshman Force: Making eight starts in nine games played, attack Pat Swanick has proven himself a leader on the offensive end of the field. The freshman leads all scorers with 13 goals and ranks second on the team in assists (5) to total a team-best 18 points on the season. More impressively, after 28 shots, 24 have been on goal for an .857 SOG%. The rookie standout stands at seventh in the nation in shot percentage, firing off 13 goals in 28 shots (.464), and has scored at least one goal in all but two games this season while recording five multi-goal games, two in which he registered hat-tricks. For his three-goal effort against Marquette on March 16, Swanick was named a Colonial Athletic Association Co-Rookie of the Week (3/18).

Starting Seven: Seven Hawks have started all nine games of the season thus far. Sarcona and Franchak have been consistent at the attack while Simanski has taken control in the midfield. Moran, Barrow, and Farrell comprise the starting defensive unit while Keen has made his stake between the pipes.

Perfect 10: The Hawks are 3-0 when scoring 10 or more goals in a game this year. In those three games, SJU outscored its opponents 32-14. 10 goals seems to be the number - the squad is 1-5 when scoring nine or less goals per game.

Winning Early: The pattern seems to be, the earlier the attack, the better the result. Saint Joseph's is 3-1 when leading and 0-3 when trailing after the first period.

Home Is Where The Heart Is: Saint Joseph's is 3-1 this year when playing on Finnesey Field compared to 0-4 when competing as the away team on the road.

Welcome To Hawk Hill: On February 23, freshmen Matt Blasco, Garrahan, and Richard Gabelman each registered their first collegiate goals in SJU's season-opening home victory over VMI. The Hawks welcome 15 freshmen from six states - Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania - to the squad this season.