PHILADELPHIA – Led by the members of its senior/graduate student class, who combined for 12 of SJU's 14 goals, the Saint Joseph's men's lacrosse squad defeated Mount St. Mary's, 14-7, in Northeast Conference action on Senior Day on Sweeney Field on Saturday afternoon. With the win, the Hawks improve to 9-3 overall and remain undefeated in NEC play (5-0) while the Mountaineers fall to 4-9 (1-4 NEC).

Saint Joseph's has now won nine games, which marks the longest winning streak in program history.

"I'm really pleased to get the victory here at home for our senior class," said head coach Taylor Wray following the game. "It was a meaningful game in that regard. They're all meaningful. I'm pleased for them to get that win. They carried us, as they have all season. They really got us started early in the game. I felt like, as has been the case all year, our senior class made key contributions at every position."

Senior attackman Chris Blewitt (2g, 4a) led the Hawks with six points, five of them coming in the first quarter, while senior midfielder Hayes McGinley (3g on three shots, 1a) and graduate student attackman Mike Rastivo (3g) added hat tricks to lead the offense.

Graduate student midfielder Will McNamara scrapped for a game-high five ground balls while senior defenseman Brendan McNicholas and senior long stick midfielder Austin Smith went for two ground balls and two caused turnovers apiece.

Goalkeeper Mike Adler continued to dominate between the pipes as the redshirt freshman made 15 saves, seven in the first half and eight in the second, vs. five goals allowed in 54:10.

Paced by Blewitt's five first-quarter points, the Hawks jumped out to a 5-1 edge by the end of the first 15:00. Blewitt scored an unassisted tally to open the game (14:11) and, after Mount St. Mary's Chris DiPretoro equalized (12:57), Blewitt assisted on scores from Rastivo (11:53) and freshman attackman Shane Fable (6:21), the latter of which came with one second remaining on a 30-second shot clock warning on the Crimson and Gray. Blewitt then scored at the 3:57 mark on a feed from senior midfielder Kyle Cain before finding graduate student midfielder Will McNamara, who hit the back of the net with one tick to play before the end of the quarter.

The Hawks scored the first three goals of the second quarter to extend their advantage by seven, 8-1, as McGinley scored a pair of unassisted goals (13:44, 9:47) with a score from freshman midfielder Austin Strazzulla (12:26) sandwiched in between. The Mountaineers scored two of the final three to close the quarter to close their deficit to six, 9-3, entering the halftime break.

McGinley continued to dominate on offense in the third quarter; after Mount St. Mary's scored at the 10:39 mark to inch to within five, McGinley put away his third unassisted goal of the day (8:52) and assisted on Rastivo's man-up goal just 45 seconds later (8:07). The Mountaineers responded with DiPretoro's second goal just 20 seconds later (7:47) for an 11-5 score, in favor of the Hawks, entering the final 15:00.

The fourth quarter continued with the theme of SJU's seniors leading the way. Sophomore defenseman Tyler Makar hit senior defenseman Brendan McNicholas with a cross-field pass down in the Hawks' defensive end, and McNicholas took advantage of Mount's 10-man ride as he tore down the field and fired off his first collegiate goal from about five steps out SJU's offensive third of the field (12:12).

Senior attackman Patrick O'Brien then got in on the scoring at the 8:45 mark on a feed from freshman midfielder Evan Campbell to push SJU's lead out by eight, 13-5.

Mount St. Mary's answered on a Matt Haggerty score (4:28), but senior short stick defensive midfielder Davis Stoner took advantage of an MSM open net and hit the back of it from near midfield to become the seventh SJU senior of the day to record a goal (3:14).

The Mountaineers would tack on one more score with 3:07 to play, but the Hawks would take home the convincing 14-7 victory.

For the game, Saint Joseph's held a 40-32 edge in shots, propelled by a 25-11 first-half showing. The ground ball game was even at 28 apiece while the Hawks' face-off unit of freshman Billy Jardeleza (8-of-19) and sophomore Garrison Kedda (2-of-5) combined for a balance effort from the circle at 10-of-24.

"I was pleased with the job that our guys did at the face-off," added Wray. "I thought that the guys that went in there really battled hard."

Saint Joseph's closes out the 2018 regular season at Robert Morris (10-3, 4-1) next Saturday, April 28. Opening face-off at Joe Walton Stadium in Moon Township, Pa. is set for 1:00 p.m. The Colonials, currently ranked 19th in the nation, are on a four-game winning streak.

A win for the Hawks next Saturday would earn SJU the top seed for the 2018 NEC Tournament as well as the right to host the tournament on Sweeney Field.

"We'll take 5-0 in the league heading into this next one," beamed Wray. "I like where our team is at."

All photos from today's big win (including Senior Day ceremony) will be made available for sale at Photoshelter.com.

GAME NOTES: Prior to the start of the game, the Saint Joseph's men's lacrosse program honored senior attackman Chris Blewitt (2g, 4a), senior defenseman Nick Buckley (key caused turnover late), senior midfielder Kyle Cain (1a, 2gb), senior goalkeeper Pat Dallon (2 saves), senior midfielder Jason Kelly, senior midfielder Hayes McGinley (3g, 1a), senior defenseman Brendan McNicholas (1g, 2gb, 2ct), senior attackman Patrick O'Brien (1g),  senior long stick midfielder Austin Smith (2gb, 2ct), senior short stick defensive midfielder Davis Stoner (1g, 2gb),  graduate student midfielder Will McNamara (1g, 5gb, 1ct), and graduate student attackman Mike Rastivo (3g, 2gb) for their dedication to the program over their careers on Hawk Hill... The Hawks improve to 9-13 all-time against the Mountaineers but 6-0 under the direction of seventh-year head coach Taylor Wray... With three goals in the win, Rastivo pushes the record for career goals at SJU to 127... With his three points, Rastivo remains in career points at SJU (186) and is just nine shy of breaking the career record (Bill Oakes, 194)... With his five shots, Rastivo passes Randy McNeill '01 and now sits second in career shots at SJU (326)... With four helpers in the win, Blewitt passes Drew Foley '97 and now sits seventh in career assists at SJU (67).