PHILADELPHIA – The Statesmen jumped out to an early 3-0 lead and never trailed as the top-seeded Saint Joseph's men's lacrosse team fell to third-seeded Hobart, 11-7, in the Northeast Conference championship game at Sweeney Field on Saturday afternoon. The Hawks end their season 12-4 to match the best single-season record in program history.
"There is an incredible feeling of disappointment, and I feel for the players and the seniors, in particular, who put so much into it," said head coach Taylor Wray following the game. "To get all the way to this point, not winning is tough to handle. I feel for those guys. I give a lot of credit to Hobart. They played terrific lacrosse. They outplayed us today."
Senior midfielder Kevin Forster, junior goalkeeper T.J. Jones, and sophomore midfielder Hayes McGinley were named to the All-Championship team for their performances in the tournament.
Sophomore attackman Chris Blewitt led the Hawks with two goals against the Statesmen while sophomore attackman Kyle Cain and junior midfielder Ray Vandegrift chipped in one goal and one assist each.
Hobart (10-6) jumped out to a 4-1 advantage by the end of the first quarter as the Statesmen scored three consecutive goals in just over a two-minute span (9:34, 8:19, 7:25) before Saint Joseph's junior midfielder Anthony Joaquim netted an unassisted goal to put the Hawks on the board, 3-1, at the 3:37 mark. Hobart's Sean Donnelly put away the Statesmen's fourth of the quarter on a feed from Frank Brown with 1:04 to go.
Hobart extended its lead to four with a goal to open the second quarter (11:25), but the Hawks strung together three of the next four scores to close to within two, 6-4, by the halftime break. Blewitt started the scoring on a feed from Cain at the 6:40 mark, and Rastivo netted his team-leading 35th goal of the season just 42 seconds later (5:58). Following another Hobart goal from Donnelly, Forster found senior attackman Pat Swanick on a man-up opportunity with 2:22 to play to close out the first half.
Vandegrift found Blewitt for the sophomore's team-best second goal of the day to open the third quarter (10:34) and to bring the Hawks to within one, but Hobart scored three of the next four (8:24, 5:11, 2:47) with an unassisted Vandegrift goal sandwhiched between (4:26) to own a three-goal lead heading into the final 15:00.
Cain put away his 20th goal of the season to start the momentum for the Crimson and Gray entering the final quarter at the 11:09 mark, but Hobart would shut the Hawks out for the rest of the game and added another pair of scores from Bryan Hancock on an EMO (9:38) and unassisted goal (3:52) to close the scoring.
For the game, Hobart owned a 41-30 advantage in shots, inccluding a 23-13 first half, and won the ground ball battle 25-17.
The Statesmen also owned a 13-8 advantage in face-off possessions, with the Hawks comitting five violations from the circle. Each team went 6-of-12 in the first half, but SJU comitted four violations from the X in the first 30:00.
In a game that saw 9:00-plus minutes of EMOs, the Statesmen converted on 3-of-6 opportunities, while the Hawks were held to 1-of-4.
Junior defenseman Shane Taggert recorded a game-high three caused turnovers.
Junior goalkeeper T.J. Jones (12-4) made 13 saves in the full 60:00.
Today's game marked the final collegiate games for seniors Kevin Forster, Rich Gabelman, Bryan Garrahan, Joe McErlean, Cameron Riley, Pat Swanick, and John Winchell, a class that put together 39 wins over their four years on Hawk Hill, a program-best.
"The character of those guys," responded Wray on what will be remembered from this senior class. "They have bought in from the very beginning, and they have been the leaders of our team all season. It's a small group with seven guys. They're incredibly hardworking guys and men of great character, and we will be sad to see them go."
GAME NOTES: Making his 63rd career appearance on the back line, senior defenseman John Winchell broke the program record for career games played... With his second-quarter goal, junior attackman Mike Rastivo finishes the season with 35 goals, which ties for sixth on SJU's all-time list for single-season goals, and reaches 105 for his career, which ties for fourth in program history; he will enter his senior season just 15 goals shy of matching Randy McNeill's program record (120)... Rastivo finishes the season with 57 points, which ties for fifth on SJU's all-time list for single-season points, and reaches 153 for his career, which ranks seventh in program history... Junior goalkeeper T.J. Jones' season GAA (7.47) becomes the new program record for single-season goals against average, while his save percentage (.579) ranks ninth... Making his 60th career appearance on the attack, senior Pat Swanick leaves Hawk Hill ranked seventh in career games played.
