PHILADELPHIA – With the Hawks trailing 1-0 entering the second half, junior midfielder Matt Crawford scored the equalizer (48'), assisted on sophomore forward Derek MacKinnon's match-winner (54'), and netted one more for security (72') to lead the Saint Joseph's men's soccer squad to a 3-1 victory over Rhode Island in Atlantic 10 action on Wednesday evening on Sweeney Field. With their first home win of the season, the Hawks now sit at 5-5-1 overall (2-0-0 A-10) while the Rams fall to 4-7-1 overall (1-1-0 A-10).

"Great win tonight," said head coach Don D'Ambra following the match. "I thought we were lucky to get out of the first half only down 1-0 . . . We came out with a whole different mentality and sense of urgency in the second half."

Rhode Island struck first when Carlo Davids took a feed from Dante Lamb and buried his shot into the lower-left corner of SJU's net to put the Rams up, 1-0, in the 18th minute.

The Hawks put a pair of shots on goal in the first half and had their best chance just 38 seconds before halftime when senior forward Ted Foley took an outstanding cross from senior defender Mike Stuski and headed a hard shot on net, but URI goalkeeper Nils Leifhelm made the stop.

The Hawks came out firing in the second half, puttting three shots on goal in the opening 12 minutes.

Crawford started the scoring for the Crimson and Gray just 2:21 into the second half when the junior midfielder found a bit of space and blasted a shot into the top-right corner of the net from 30 yards out to even the score, 1-1.

"Matty [Crawford] scored a world-class goal," added D'Ambra. "He has been doing very well and has been very oportunistic about his chances. He crushed a great goal and brought confidence back."

Just over six minutes later, Crawford launched in a perfect ball on a free kick that found MacKinnon, and MacKinnon headed in his first goal of the season, which would serve as the eventual match-winner, at the 53:29 mark.

In the 72nd minute, Crawford would go on to gain possession after outstanding hustle plays from sophomore midfielder Kyle Lochbihler and Foley and put away his second of the match into the lower-left corner from 15 yards out. 

For the match, Rhode Island held a slight 15-12 edge in shots; Saint Joseph's landed six of its 12 shots on goal. The Ram also earned a 5-2 edge in corner kicks, including a 4-1 second-half advantage.

Crawford led the way with four shots, landed both on goal and for goals, while MacKinnon and Foley landed one shot on goal in two opportunities apiece.

Junior goalkeeper Greg O'Connell (5-5-1, 2-0-0 A-10) made four saves in the full-match effort to pick up his fifth win of the season.

"Rhode Island is a good team," added D'Ambra. "[To be] 2-0 in the conference right now is huge for us. It's a good confidence builder. It was our first win at home, which is really important to us. Things are going well and hopefully our guys can stay motivated to continue to get better."

Saint Joseph's returns to action at George Mason this Saturday, October 8. Start time at George Mason Stadium in Fairfax, Va. is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.

MATCH NOTES: Junior midfielder Matt Crawford scored his sixth and seventh goals of the year, marking the first time since 2007 that a player has scored at least seven goals in a season... Crawford has also scored two goals in three of SJU's last four matches and has scored six of SJU's last seven goals... All but three starters played the full match for the Crimson and Gray, including goalkeeper Greg O'Connell, defenders Kevin Lockhart, Eddie McCusker, Mike Stuski, and Ben Zambetti, and midfielders Crawford, Bliss Harris, and Eric Jordan... Saint Joseph's improves to 7-19-0 all-time against Rhode Island and takes home its first win over the Rams since October 14, 2012... The Hawks earned their first home win of the year after entering the match 0-3-1 on Hawk Hill... SJU has now opened the Atlantic 10 season with back-to-back wins for the first time since 2007.