EMMITSBURG, Md. – Scoring the first 12 goals of the game, the Saint Joseph's men's lacrosse team picked up its fifth straight win and improved to 4-0 in the  Northeast Conference with a dominant 16-4 victory at Mount St. Mary's on Saturday. With the win, the Hawks improve to 8-5 overall and 4-0 in league play while Mount St. Mary's falls to 4-8 overall and 1-3 in the NEC.

Led by senior attack Mike Dougherty's hat-trick and assist, the Hawks opened the game with six goals in the first quarter and six more in the second to open a 12-0 lead to start. Dougherty scored the game's first three goals, while junior attack Pat Swanick, sophomore midfielder Mike Lanham, and redshirt junior midfielder Kevin Forster capped the opening period with goals for a 6-0 edge.

Graduate student attack Ryan McGee scored twice and SJU got tallies from senior midfielder Josh Cavanaugh, sophomore midfielders Anthony Joaquim and Ray Vandegrift, and junior midfielder Bryan Garrahan as the Hawks built their lead up to 12-0 with 4:21 left in the second period.

Sophomore goalkeeper T.J. Jones kept Mount St. Mary's at a standstill for most of the game, making a game-high 10 saves and allowing just one of the host's nine shots to get past him.

Sophomore attack Mike Rastivo tallied his 31st goal of the season to open the third quarter to make it 13-1, but Mount St. Mary's answered with three staright goals to cut the Hawks' lead to 13-4. 

That would be as close as SJU would allow as it scored the next three goals of the contest courtesy of Swanick, Rastivo and freshman midfielder Connor Kearnan to close out the game.

Individually, Rastivo and McGee each finished with two goals and an assist, while Swanick finished with a pair of goals.

Playing the final 6:12 in net, freshman goalkeeper Pat Dallon saved both shots he faced.

For the game, the Hawks owned a 46-24 advantage in shots and 45-25 advantage in ground balls. The Hawks also won 18-of-24 opportunities from the X, led by Lanham's 16-for-22 day - including a game-high 12 ground balls - and sophomore midfielder Danny Manning's perfect 2-of-2 showing from the circle.

Junior defenseman John Winchell scooped up four ground balls and matched a game-high three turnovers.

Saint Joseph's forced nine Mount St. Mary's turnovers off of failed clears.

The Hawks return to action next Saturday, April 18 when they host Hobart at 1:00 p.m. on Sweeney Field.