PHILADELPHIA – The Saint Joseph's men's lacrosse squad (3-5) opens Northeast Conference action at Bryant (4-5, 0-1 NEC) this Saturday, March 25. Opening face-off at Bryant's Track and Turf Complex in Smithfield, R.I. is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. The game will be streamed free of charge via NECFrontRow.
With four first-place votes, Saint Joseph's was predicted to win the 2017 NEC title, as voted on by the league's seven head coaches and announced on February 7. The Hawks won the regular-season title outright in 2014 and 2015 and shared it last spring and are 17-1 in regular-season conference games since joining the league in 2014. The Bulldogs, winners of four straight NEC titles from 2012-15, were predicted to finish third.
The Hawks enter their third consecutive road game looking to snap a two-game losing streak, while the Bulldogs dropped their NEC opener at Mount St. Mary's this past Saturday.
Saturday's game will be a battle at the circle, as Bryant leads the conference in face-off winning percentage (54.1%), followed closely by Saint Joseph's (53.8%). Saint Joseph's senior face-off specialist Danny Manning's 59.5% from the X leads the league and ranks 14th nationally, while Bryant's Kenny Massa sits second in the NEC at 56.8%.
SJU's defensive unit will go up against a Bryant attack that ranks fourth nationally in man-up offense, led by Ryan Sharpe's nation-best five EMO scores.
SERIES HISTORY
Saturday's game will mark the seventh all-time meeting between Saint Joseph's and Bryant, and the teams are tied 3-3 in the all-time series. Chris Blewitt put away the overtime game-winner last year while Mike Rastivo, sidelined by injury this year, lit up the field with six goals, including the last-minute equalizer in regulation. The Hawks have won three of the last four meetings and are 3-2 under the direction of sixth-year head coach Taylor Wray.
All-Time Series:
2016 - W - 10-9 (OT) - Home
2015 - L - 10-6 - Home (Northeast Conference Championship Game)
2015 - W - 8-7 - Away
2014 - W - 9-7 - Home
2012 - L - 11-7 - Away
2011 - L - 14-3 - Home
ABOUT THE HAWKS
After opening the season with a trio of losses to then-nationally-ranked teams in Maryland (16-8), Penn (10-5), and Duke (16-3), the Hawks finished the non-conference schedule with three consecutive wins over St. John's (8-5), Manhattan (18-6), and Monmouth (6-5 OT) and, most recently, a pair of road setbacks at Drexel (12-8) and Delaware (12-7).
Junior attackman Jason Kelly (15g, 4a), junior attackman 2015 NEC Rookie of the Year Blewitt (13g, 5a), and senior midfielder Kevin Reidinger (12g, 2a) lead the squad in scoring and are SJU's only three offensive players to make all eight starts. Junior midfielder Hayes McGinley has dished out a team-high six assists.
Manning owns a 59.5 percent winning percentage from the X (75-for-126) while junior Austin Smith's 32 ground balls are a team-best. Senior defenseman and 2016 NEC Second Team LSM Connor Kubikowski, who has earned the last three starts, has gone for 21 ground balls and a team-best eight caused turnovers while senior goalkeeper and the 2016 NEC Defensive Player of the Year T.J. Jones (3-5) sports a .538 save percentage and 10.21 goals against average in 458:31 in all eight starts between the pipes.
SCOUTING BRYANT
The Bulldogs opened the season with a win over Manhattan (17-10), losses to Bucknell (9-8) and Providence (7-6), a win over Hartford (17-11), and a loss to then-#19/RV Boston University (12-9) throughout the month of February and went on to take home a statement win with a 9-6 road victory over then-#7/6 Yale on March 5. Since that point, the Bulldogs have dropped two of their last three, with a 7-5 loss at Drexel, an 18-3 home win over Siena, and, most recently, a 6-5 loss in their NEC opener at Mount St. Mary's this past Saturday; the Mount scored the game-winner with 1.8 seconds remaining in regulation.
Tucker James bolsters Bryant's attack, leading the Bulldogs in goals (24) and assists (16), while Cam Ziegler (16g, 11a) and Tom Kennedy (12g, 8a) own double-digit points. Massa has gone 42.9 percent (108-of-190) from the X over nine games to go with a team-best 61 ground balls. Goalkeeper James Werner (4-5) sports an 8.40 goals against average and .543 save percentage in 528:39, all but 26:21 on the season.
Zeigler scored twice at Mount St. Mary's, while James was held to just to helpers on the day. Massa went 10-of-13 from the X.
SENIOR CLASS AWARD
Saint Joseph's senior goalkeeper T.J. Jones and senior defensemen Charles Giunta and Shane Taggert have been selected as candidates for the 2017 Senior CLASS Award in collegiate men's lacrosse, it was announced on Thursday afternoon. Twenty of the top NCAA men's lacrosse student-athletes who excel both on and off the field were selected as candidates, and Saint Joseph's leads all NCAA Division I men's lacrosse programs with three candidates selected. To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be classified as an NCAA Division I senior and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence: community, classroom, character and competition. Read more here.
