STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. - The Hawks broke an early 2-2 tie with six consecutive goals that spanned from late in the first quarter into the early third and never looked back as the Saint Joseph's men's lacrosse squad earned its second Northeast Conference victory of the spring with a 12-7 win over Wagner at Hameline Stadium on Saturday afternoon. With their fifth straight win, the Hawks improve to 5-3 overall (2-0 NEC) while the Seahawks fall to 4-6 overall (0-2 NEC).

"A win is a win and we will take it, but I didn't think today was our sharpest performance of the year," said head coach Taylor Wray following the victory. "We had some opportunities to break it open in transition and didn't complete the plays. I thought Wagner did a great job of battling back when we started to separate a little bit, and they played us tough to the final whistle."

Graduate student attackman Mike Rastivo (3g, 1a) and graduate student midfielder Will McNamara (career-high 3g) put away hat tricks for the Hawks while freshman attackman Shane Fable (2g, 1a) also added a multi-goal performance. Senior attackman Chris Blewitt and senior midfielder Kyle Cain dished out three assists apiece.

McNamara, who recorded his first career multi-goal game with his first career hat trick, also excelled on the defensive end of the field with a trio of ground balls.

"Will [McNamara] was incredible today," said Wray. "Not just his three goals, but the way he defended. His play on the wings was terrific."

Redshirt freshman goalkeeper Mike Adler (4-3, 2-0 NEC) made 10 saves vs. seven goals allowed in the full 60:00 for his fourth win of the spring.

Cain got the Hawks moving offensively with a pair of early helpers, finding senior midfielder Jason Kelly (14:12) and Fable (11:45) for an early 2-0 SJU edge.

Wagner equalized on a pair of unassisted scores (9:21, 5:20) but Fable netted his second of the game (3:27) on a feed from Blewitt to close out the first quarter with the Hawks up by one, 3-2.

Despite going 0-for-4 from the face-off in the second quarter, the Hawks found a way to score three straight to dominate the second as McNamara (14:26), senior long stick midfielder Austin Smith, and Rastivo (0:13) hit the back of the net and Adler made a pair of saves to blank the Seahawk offense.

SJU scored twice more to open the third quarter, as Cain found senior midfielder Hayes McGinley for a man-up goal (12;36) and sophomore defenseman Liam Hare found Rastivo (12:21) just 15 seconds later.

Wagner would then score four of the game's next six to inch to within four goals, 10-4, entering the final 7:05 of regulation, but McNamara (5:20), assisted by Fable, and freshman attackman Thomas Halm (2:06), assisted by freshman midfielder Jack Anderson, combined for two of the game's final three goals.

For the game, Wagner owned a slight 38-34 edge in shots, but the Hawks held the Seahawks to just six shots (and zero goals allowed on those six shots) in the second quarter. The Hawks owned a 33-22 advantage in ground balls and turned the ball over just nine times for the game. The Seahawks earned 13 of the game's 23 possessions from the face-off.

Senior short stick defensive midfielder Davis Stoner had a monstrous defensive game for the Crimson and Gray with a game-high seven ground balls and a game-high four caused turnovers. Smith added six ground balls while Blewitt contributed four from the attack and both Hare and McNamara went for three. Freshman Billy Jardeleza went 6-of-16 from the X before freshman Tyler Green took SJU's last seven face-offs to go 4-of-7 from the day.

"As we always do, we will break down the game, learn from our experiences, and hopefully, it will make us better for the next one," added Wray. "We're in a good spot right now at 2-0 in the league and excited to play the next three games at home."

Saint Joseph's returns home to kick off a three-league-game homestand next Saturday, April 7 against Sacred Heart (5-5, 1-2 NEC). Opening face-off on Sweeney Field is set for 1:00 p.m.

GAME NOTES: Saint Joseph's improves to 18-0 all-time against Wagner... With four points in Saturday's win, graduate student attackman Mike Rastivo remains fifth all-time in career points at SJU, with 173... With three goals, Rastivo remains second all-time in career goals at SJU, with 117... He is just three shy of tying the program record (Randy McNeill '01, 120)... With an assist, Rastivo now ties for ninth all-time, with current teammate Chris Blewitt '18, in career assists at SJU, with 56... With five shots, Rastivo remains fourth all-time in career shots at SJU, with 309... With three assists in Saturday's win, senior attackman Chris Blewitt now ties for ninth all-time, with current teammate Mike Rastivo '18, in career assists at SJU, with 56... With three points, Blewitt remains 10th all-time in career points at SJU, with 135, just two shy of tying for ninth... With his first ground ball of the game, senior short stick defensive midfielder Davis Stoner hit 100 ground balls for his career.

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SJU alumnae, family and friends, the Hawks will host SJU Men's Lacrosse Alumnae and Family Day on Saturday, April 14 in conjunction with the Hawks' home game vs. Bryant at 1:00 p.m. Registration can be made online by visiting alumni.sju.edu/mlax. For more information, contact Christina Henderson at 610-660-3280 or chenders@sju.edu.

Be sure to follow the Saint Joseph's men's lacrosse program on Twitter and Instagram and like the Hawks on Facebook. Fans can receive all of the latest news and info on the men's lacrosse program with Hawk E-News.

Also be sure to check out Sideline Photos, LLC's shots from home games vs. Fairfield and St. John's at PhotoShelter.com.