RICHMOND, Va. – The Saint Joseph's men's lacrosse team (0-1) fell to Richmond, 9-5, in both squad's season openers at Robins Stadium on Saturday afternoon. Sophomore attack Mike Rastivo (1G, 1A) and sophomore midfielder Anthony Joaquim (1G, 1A) led the Hawks with two points apiece.
"I honestly think we came down here a little too full of ourselves," said head coach Taylor Wray following the game. "A lot of people have said nice things about our team and I think we started to believe it. The bottom line is, we are a good team when we play tough, fundamentally sound lacrosse and execute our plan. We did not do that today. My hat goes off to Richmond; they executed their game plan to a tee and we were unable to do the same."
Richmond (1-0) scored first with 9:55 remaining in the first period, but SJU graduate student attack Ryan McGee would score on a dish from Joaquim with 1:46 left in the first period to equalize the score, 1-1.
Just 25 seconds into the second period, Saint Joseph's was awarded a 1:00 man-up opportunity after a Richmond illegal body check. Freshman midfielder Connor Kearnan took advantage of the EMO situation and registered his first collegiate goal on an assist from Rastivo just 45 seconds into the second half to put the Hawks ahead, 2-1.
Richmond would then go on a 5-0 run that would span the remainder of the second period and all of the third to pull back ahead, 6-2, heading into the final 15:00.
Just 14 seconds into the final period, Joaquim tallied an unassisted goal of his own to close the Hawks' deficit to three goals, but Richmond's Jean Luc Chetner answered at the 12:49 mark to put Richmond back ahead by four.
Saint Joseph's gained a bit of momentum on a pair of consecutive goals by Rastivo (11:44) and sophomore midfielder Mike Lanham, who tallied his first collegiate goal with 11:36 remaining in the fourth period, to bring the Hawks to within two goals, 7-5.
However, Richmond's Mickey Hofmeister scored the final two goals of the game (11:01, 4:20) to put the Spiders back ahead by four goals, 9-5, and that score would stand as time expired.
For the game, Saint Joseph's owned a 41-33 advantage in shots, with a combined 16 from McGee and Rastivo, and a 27-24 edge in ground balls but registered 20 turnovers, with nine coming in the form of failed clear attempts. The Hawks held the Spiders scoreless in all three Richmond EMO opportunities.
Lanham was phenomenal from the X, going 11-of-15 and boasting a game-high seven ground balls in the process. Sophomore midfielder Danny Manning was a perfect 3-of-3 from the X.
Sophomore goalkeeper T.J. Jones (0-1) made 11 saves in a full-game effort.
"We knew that this was going to be a tough game," added Wray. "The coaching staff has preached for the last couple months that it was going to take an exceptional effort and great execution to beat Richmond. I feel like our team kind of thought we'd just come down here and it would just happen for us. We didn't make plays, we didn't make it happen . . . and the responsibility falls on me to ensure we are better prepared. We need to fix some things, and we need some guys to step up. Early season games help you learn about your team, and we'll use this as a learning process for us."
The Hawks will play their home opener against High Point next Saturday, February 14. Opening face-off is scheduled for noon on Sweeney Field.
GAME NOTES: Redshirt junior attack Kevin Forster made his first SJU start after transferring to Hawk Hill from Maryland... Freshmen Connor Kearnan, Chris Blewitt, Kyle Cain, Brian McNamara (R-Fr.), and Davis Stoner made their collegiate debuts.
