GENEVA, N.Y. – Senior attackman Chris Blewitt's second-half hat trick and redshirt freshman Mike Adler's 15 saves led the Saint Joseph's men's lacrosse squad (4-3, 1-0 NEC) to a 6-5 win over Hobart (3-5, 1-1 NEC) in the Hawks' 2018 Northeast Conference opener at Boswell Stadium on Saturday afternoon. With the win, the Hawks extend their winning streak to four games while the Statesmen have now dropped two of their last three.

Blewitt registered a game-high four points (3g, 1a) while graduate student midfielder Will McNamara (1g, 1a) and graduate attackman Mike Rastivo (2a) added multi-point efforts.

On the defensive end, Adler played a nearly flawless first half, making 13 saves on 14 shots on goal, en route to his 15-save day.

"This was another gritty team win," said head coach Taylor Wray following the game. "I was proud of how hard we played. I thought we had some great chances to open things up a bit, but their goalkeeper and defense held strong. Before the game, we told our guys to prepare for a 60-minute battle and a one-goal game at the end, and it proved to be exactly that."

McNamara opened scoring on a feed from Rastivo just 2:10 into the game to give the Hawks an early 1-0 edge at the 12:50 mark.

Hobart's Eric Holden equalized with 5:20 to play in the first quarter, but senior short stick defensive midfielder Davis Stoner put the Hawks back ahead on a feed from Blewitt with 1:38 to play to close the first 15:00 with a 2-1 SJU advantage.

Neither team scored in the second quarter, as Adler blanked all eight of Hobart's shot-on-goal advances.

Hobart opened the third quarter with back-to-back, unassisted goals from Holden (14:31) and Mason Burr (9:34) to take its first lead of the day, but an SJU rookie made sure that the Statesmen's lead wouldn't last. On the ensuing face-off, freshman Billy Jardeleza won possession single-handedly and dished the ball to Blewitt, and the senior hit the back of the net for the 3-3 equalizer just five seconds later (9:27).

Blewitt scored again with 3:24 to play in the third to give the Hawks a 4-3 edge, but Hobart's Ryan Archer put away Hobart's fourth of the day with 11 ticks remaining to once more even the score.

In one of the most critical moments of the game, Jardeleza again won the ensuing face-off possession, McNamara battled for and won the ground ball and hit sophomore defenseman Liam Hare, and Hare fired off his first collegiate goal with one second remaining on the scoreboard to give the Hawks the momentum of a one-goal edge, 5-4, entering the final 15:00.

"The goal to end the third quarter showed great clock awareness and gave us momentum heading into the fourth quarter," added Wray of Hare's goal. "A tough ground ball off the face-off by Will [McNamara] led to a well-timed and well-placed shot by our LSM Liam [Hare]. It was great to see our execution and I was really excited for Liam."

Blewitt wasted no time scoring his third of the day just under two minutes into the fourth (13:01), assisted by Rastivo, to give the Hawks' their first two-goal cushion of the day.

Following an SJU turnover on a failed clear attempt, Hobart's Burr struck back (9:04) to once more make it a one-goal game.

Despite allowing four consecutive Hobart goals coming out of the halftime break, Adler stepped up and made his only two saves of the second half, one with 7:37 to play and one on a shot from the close left wing with 5:03 to play, to keep the Statesmen from equalizing late.

Hobart owned a critical scoring opportunity with 2:05 to go as the Statesmen came out of a timeout with a fresh shot clock in their offensive third of the field. However, Stoner, who has been a force to be reckoned with on the defensive end of the field this season, forced Holden, who had already scored twice in the game, to turn the ball over with 1:36 to play.

McNamara was there for his second ground ball of the day, and the Hawks cleared the ball down the field to try to kill off the final 1:19.

After being hit with a shot clock warning, the Hawks ultimately gave up possession to the Statesmen, but Hobart's final shot with 22 ticks remaining went wide, and despite playing down a man due to an interference call, the Hawks would hold off the Statesmen and the 6-5 score would stand as time expired.

For the game, shots (34-33) and ground balls (20-19) were relatively even, with Hobart earning the edge in both categories, while Statesman Matt Pedicine earned nine of the game's 14 possessions from the X. The Hawks went 23-of-25 in clear attempts compared to the Statesmen's 24-of-26 while SJU turned the ball over just 10 times compared to Hobart's 12.

Jardeleza took all 14 of SJU's face-offs and earned critical wins when they mattered while Adler added a team-high three ground balls in the cage. Senior long stick midfielder Austin Smith and sophomore defenseman Tyler Makar went for two ground balls and two caused turnovers apiece.

"We got some key performances from some key guys," added Wray. "Mike [Adler] was outstanding, particularly in the first half. The trio of Davis [Stoner], Will [McNamara], and Austin [Smith] have been excellent, and they were difference-makers today."

Saint Joseph's returns to action at Wagner (3-5, 0-1 NEC) next Saturday, March 31. Opening face-off at Hameline Field in Staten Island, N.Y. is set for 1:00 p.m. The Seahawks will play NJIT in non-conference action this evening before hosting the Hawks next weekend.

"Overall, we are happy to be 1-0 in the league," closed Wray. "Hobart is a tough team, and it's a tall task to go up there and to come away with a win. I'm happy for our team. I felt we earned this win today."

GAME NOTES: Saint Joseph's improves to 4-5 all-time against Hobart and picks up its first win over the Statesmen since their regular-season meeting in 2016... Sophomore defenseman Liam Hare scored his first collegiate goal to close the third quarter... Freshman face-off specialist Billy Jardeleza recorded his first collegiate point on an assist in the third quarter... Graduate student attackman Mike Rastivo went for two assists, which keeps him ninth all-time in career assists at SJU (55)... With two points on those two assists, Rastivo remains fifth all-time in career points at SJU (169)... With four shots, Rastivo remains fourth all-time in career shots at SJU (304)... Senior attackman Chris Blewitt went for one assist, which breaks the tie with Alex Lopes '09 and moves him into sole possession of 10th all-time in career assists at SJU (53)... With four points on three goals and one assist, Blewitt remains 10th all-time in career points at SJU (132)... Blewitt's hat trick gives him 79 career goals, and the senior is now just six goals shy of breaking onto the top ten for career goals at SJU.