PHILADELPHIA – On Senior Day, SJU's senior class put together an outstanding effort to lead the Saint Joseph's men's lacrosse squad to a 14-5 win over Wagner in a rain-soaked Northeast Conference battle on Sweeney Field on Saturday afternoon. With their first league win of the spring, the Hawks snap a six-game losing streak to improve to 4-9 overall (1-4 NEC) while the Seahawks fall to 6-8 overall (1-4 NEC).

Senior midfielders Ray Vandegrift (2g, 1a), Kevin Reidinger (2g), and Evan Wolf (1g) combined for five of SJU's goals, while senior face-off specialist Danny Manning earned seven ground balls and nine wins from the X. Senior defenseman Connor Kubikowski went for five ground balls and a game-high three caused turnovers while senior goalkeeper T.J. Jones (4-9, 1-4 NEC) made 12 saves and held the Seahawks to just five scores in 57:37 for his program-record 30th career victory in net.

Junior attackman Chris Blewitt tallied a game-high four points on two goals and two assists.

Paced by a 5-1 first quarter and 5-2 second quarter, the Hawks jumped out to a 10-3 lead by the halftime break.

Saint Joseph's scored the first five goals of the game as junior midfielder Hayes McGinley (12:09) and Blewitt (9:00) put away back-to-back unassisted scores to open the first quarter. Junior attackman Jason Kelly then scored twice within 13 seconds (5:18, 5:05) before Vandegrift found Reidinger for the senior connection with 4:03 to play in the first.

With six seconds left in the first quarter, Wagner's J.P. Pawela stopped SJU's scoring run with his seventh of the season.

The Hawks continued to dominate on the offensive end as Blewitt (4:40), Wolf (3:28), junior midfielder Davis Stoner (3:14), and Reidinger (2:10) combined for four goals in a span of just under three minutes to take a 9-1 lead heading into the final minutes of the first half.

Wagner scored twice in the final 1:26 to close its deficit to seven, 10-3, entering the halftime break. Freshman attackman James Bohlinger sandwiched the first home goal of his collegiate career between the Seahawks' pair of scores, at the 1:10 mark.

Both squads netted a pair in the third quarter to keep the Hawks up by seven, 12-5, heading into the final quarter, but Vandegrift scored his second of the day at the 11:43 mark and freshman attackman Jack Hannigan scored his first collegiate goal with 1:30 to play to give the Hawks their 14th goal of the day.

For the game, Saint Joseph's owned a 38-29 advantage in shots and scrapped 28 of the game's 47 ground balls. Wagner went 13-of-23 from the face-off, with four of those wins coming from SJU violations.

Of note, freshman defenseman Liam Hare was strong off the bench as the rookie scooped up three ground balls and caused two turnovers and added an assist off of a scrappy defensive play in the first half in a strong outing for the Crimson and Gray.

Jones, who racked up his 30th career victory, made eight of his 12 saves in the second half alone, including on multiple point-blank shots from the Seahawks.

The Hawks were a perfect 20-for-20 in clear attempts.

Saint Joseph's will conclude the 2017 season at Mount St. Mary's (4-9, 1-4 NEC) next Saturday, April 29. Opening face-off at Waldron Family Stadium in Emmitsburg, Md. is slated for 3:00 p.m.

Photos from today's game will be available for purchase at sjuhawksphotos.photoshelter.com.

GAME NOTES: Prior to the start of the game, the Saint Joseph's men's lacrosse program honored its 14 seniors - Tyler Cliggett, Charles Giunta, Anthony Joaquim, T.J. Jones, Connor Kubikowski, Mike Lanham, Danny Manning, Marcus Milione, Mike Rastivo, Kevin Reidinger, Shane Taggert, Ray Vandegrift, Evan Wolf, and Jared Wolf - for their commitment and dedication to the men's lacrosse program over their careers on Hawk Hill... The 2017 senior class is currently the second-highest winningest class in program history, with 38 wins... Saint Joseph's improves to 17-0 all-time against Wagner... Seniors Connor Kubikowski and Anthony Joaquim have now played in 61 career games to tie for fifth all-time (with Steve Varga '08 and Mike Dougherty '15) in career games played on Hawk Hill; the record is 63, held by John Winchell '16... Senior goalkeeper T.J. Jones' 12 saves bring him to 490 for his career.