PROVIDENCE, R.I. – In just his second collegiate game, redshirt freshman goalkeeper Mike Adler made 16 saves, but Providence's Sean Leahey netted the fourth-quarter, game-winning goal as the Saint Joseph's men's lacrosse team dropped a 4-3 heartbreaker to the Friars at Chapey Field on Saturday afternoon. With the loss, the Hawks fall to 0-2 while the Friars improve to 3-1.

Adler stopped 80 percent of the shots he faced, making 16 stops on 20 attempts by the Friars. 11 of his 16 saves came in the second and third quarters. 

Senior attackman Chris Blewitt hit the back of the net twice while graduate student attackman Mike Rastivo scored once; all of the game's scoring, with the exception of Providence's fourth-quarter goal, came in the first half.

Neither team scored in the second half until Leahey put away the game-winner, putting a high shot past Adler with 6:39 to play.

The Hawks had possession for the final play of the game after sophomore defenseman Tyler Makar forced a Providence turnover with 28 seconds remaining and senior long stick midfielder Austin Smith scooped up the ground ball and initiated the successful clear attempt, but Friar goalkeeper Tate Boyce saved a point-blank shot with one tick remaining in regulation to seal the Providence victory.

Blewitt turned in the only score of the first quarter as the senior got the Hawks on the board with an unassisted tally at the 9:41 mark.

SJU's defense began a strong second quarter when the Hawks were hit with a pair of penalties, both at the 13:17 mark; SJU shut down Providence's offense and held them scoreless during that time.

Providence equalized at the 10:01 mark of the second quarter, on its third opportunity of the possession after Adler had made back-to-back saves in the 50 seconds leading up to the Friars' first goal.

The Friars would then take the lead, capitalizing on a failed SJU clear attempt to go up, 2-1, at the 9:05 mark.

However, senior midfielder Kyle Cain found Rastivo at the 7:50 mark to even the score, 2-2, and less than two minutes later, Rastivo found Blewitt, who cut in front of the net, received Rastivo's pass, and dove off to the right to stay out of the crease, for the senior's second goal of the day.

Providence scored again at the 5:02 mark to even up the scoring, 3-3, heading into the halftime break.

Adler was brilliant in the first half, making seven saves, including five in the second quarter alone, to keep the Hawks level with the Friars. 

For the game, Providence owned a 35-26 edge in shots and 23-18 edge in ground balls and won seven of the game's 10 possessions from the circle. In a game with nine penalties accounting for eight EMOs, both teams went scoreless, as the Hawks were held to 0-for-3 but SJU's defense held the Friars to 0-for-6 in man-up opportunities.

Saint Joseph's returns home to host St. John's on Wednesday, March 7. Opening face-off is slated for 7:00 p.m. on Sweeney Field. The SJU men's lacrosse program will dedicate the game to the One Love Foundation and the memory of Yeardley Love; more information to follow.

GAME NOTES: Saint Joseph's falls to 6-10 all-time against Providence... Freshman Shane Fable got the starting nod on the attack in his collegiate debut... Sophomore defenseman Josh Bosher made his first collegiate start... Sophomore midfielder Nicholas Vernacchio made his collegiate debut... With his goal in the second quarter, graduate student attackman Mike Rastivo moved into sole possession of third all-time in career goals on Hawk Hill (108), breaking the third-place tie with former teammate Ryan McGee '15... With two points, senior attackman Chris Blewitt broke into SJU's all-time top ten for career points (119) at SJU.