PHILADELPHIA – Senior attackman Chris Blewitt scored four goals and added an assist to lead the Saint Joseph's men's lacrosse squad to its eighth win in a row, a 12-11, non-conference victory over #20 Penn at Franklin Field on Tuesday evening. With their first win over a nationally-ranked team since 2014 and just the second in program history, the Hawks improve to 8-3 overall while the Quakers fall to 6-7. 

"I feel like our team was hungry tonight," said head coach Taylor Wray following the game. "When they play with desire and urgency and when they play together, we can be a pretty tough team."

With their eighth consecutive win, the 2018 Hawks tie the program record for longest winning streak, matching the 2015 Hawks' run from March 21, 2015 to April 20, 2015. SJU hasn't been defeated since its third game of the season, on March 6. 

The Hawks are now 2-13 all-time against the Quakers after winning two of the last three meetings, including back-to-back road contests on Franklin Field. 

"I'm really proud of this group," added Wray. "It's not one guy, it's the group. That's why we've won some games. We've got 35 guys, that's it. But they are fully bought in, they play for each other, they sacrifice for each other. When you have a group with that type of character and a senior class that is driving the bus, we feel like we can compete with anyone on any given day."

All six members of SJU's starting attack and midfield units scored in the win as graduate student attackman Mike Rastivo (2g) and freshman attackman Shane Fable (1g) alongside senior midfielders Kyle Cain (2g, 1a), Hayes McGinley (2g), and Jason Kelly (1g, 1a) got on the scoresheet.

The Hawks scored the first four goals of the game as Cain scored twice (12:27, 5:32) with goals from McGinley (9:50) and Blewitt (9:35) sandwiched in between. With under a minute to play, SJU gave way to a pair from Penn's Kevin McGeary (:40, :07) to close the first quarter with a 4-2 edge.

The Hawks used a 3-2, second-quarter advantage to hold a 7-4 lead entering the halftime break, as Blewitt scored his second of the game (10:54) on a quick rebound off of a McGinley shot before assisting on Kelly's goal (6:25), with Kelly then assisting on Rastivo's first of the night (EMO, 3:11). 

The Quakers used a 3-2, third-quarter edge to cut their deficit to two, 9-7, by the end of the third; Rastivo (7:06) and Blewitt (1:25) broke up Penn's offense and didn't allow the Quakers to string together consecutive scores throughout the third.

Bergen Catholic alums Fable (9:04) and Blewitt (7:37) teamed up to score two of the first three goals of the fourth quarter to keep the Hawks ahead by four, 12-8, entering the final 7:37 of regulation, but the Quakers stormed back with three in a row from Reilly Hupfeldt (EMO, 5:15), Tyler Dunn (4:58), and Simon Mathias (3:51) to inch to within one entering the final minutes of play.

An SJU turnover and a pair of Hawk penalties in the final 20 seconds gave the Quakers a two-man-up advantage, but the Quakers turned the ball over and Saint Joseph's sophomore long stick midfielder Liam Hare scrapped up the ground ball and, with that, possession for the Hawks as the final seven seconds ticked down.

Despite seeing disadvantages in shots (35-26), ground balls (25-17), and face-offs (17-9) and being tagged with eight penalties for the game, the Hawks were able to capitalize on offensive opportunities, scoring on 46 percent of their shots, and hold the Quakers to a 2-of-6 conversion rate in EMOs. 

Freshman face-off specialist Tyler Green led three Hawks at the dot with a 5-of-12 showing while Green and Hare scooped up three ground balls apiece. 

Redshirt freshman goalkeeper Mike Adler (7-3) made seven saves in the full 60:00.

Saint Joseph's returns to Northeast Conference action this Saturday, April 21 against Mount St. Mary's (4-8, 1-3 NEC). Opening face-off is set for 1:00 p.m. on Sweeney Field.