PHILADELPHIA - NEC Offensive Player of the Year Mike Rastivo lived up to the billing as he tallied five goals and T.J. Jones made 12 saves between the pipes as the top-seeded Saint Joseph's men's lacrosse team romped past Mount St. Mary's, 10-4, in the semifinals of the 2015 NEC Men's Lacrosse Championship at Sweeney Field on Thursday afternoon.
The Hawks will play third-seeded Bryant in the NEC Championship Game, at Sweeney Field at 1 p.m. on Saturday. Bryant advanced with an 11-8 win over Hobart.
Rastivo, the NEC Offensive Player of the Year, scored three straight goals in the second quarter as the Hawks built up a 5-1 lead by halftime.
NEC Rookie of the Year Chris Blewitt added two goals and Ryan McGee had a pair of assists as the Hawks scored nine consecutive goals in the second and third quarters to put the game away.
The teams were tied, 1-1, at the end of the first quarter, with Blewitt opening the scoring for the Hawks at 9:11 off a pass from McGee. Mike Moynihan knotted the score with a goal at 8:58.
The Hawks would then score nine straight goals to seal the win. Ray Vandegrift tallied an unassisted goal at 5:46 of the second quarter and then Rastivo took over, scoring a man-up goal at 4:53. He scored nine seconds later, with an assist from Davis Stoner, and then tallied his third goal in less than two minutes with an unassisted score at 3:05 to give its 5-1 halftime lead.
Blewitt opened the second half with a goal at 13:16 off a pass from McGee and Kevin Forster netted a man-up goal at 11:46, assisted by Robert Raucci. Forster then set up Rastivo for his fourth of the game, at 10:35.
Rich Gabelman tallied his first of the year off a pass from Blewitt at 8:35, and Rastivo followed with his fifth, just 35 seconds later to give the Hawks a 10-1 lead.
Mount St. Mary's answered with two goals near the end of the third quarter, as Robert Jones scored at 5:05 and Mark Hojnoski tallied at 3:24. The Mount scored the only goal of the fourth quarter, and the final of the game, at 12:17 when Justin Gosnell connected off a pass from Bubba Johnson.
It marks the first postseason win for the Hawks since 2007, when Saint Joseph's defeated Canisius in the semifinals of the Metro Atlantic 10 Athletic Conference Championship.
