PHILADELPHIA – Penn's Adam Goldner broke a 12-12 tie with 48 seconds remaining in regulation as the #20 Saint Joseph's men's lacrosse squad (5-2) dropped a 13-12 heartbreaker to #9 Penn (2-3) in the final game of the second annual Philly 4 Lacrosse Classic, held on Sweeney Field on Sunday afternoon. Despite playing without sophomore face-off specialist Zach Cole, who led the nation in face-off winning percentage entering this weekend's competition, due to injury, the Hawks found ways to battle the Quakers until the closing whistle.

"I'm disappointed in the outcome but incredibly proud of our team," said head coach Taylor Wray following the loss, which snapped SJU's four-game winning streak. "They played with such a passion and desire and truly represented what our school and program is all about."

Coming off of a career-high 20 saves against Drexel on Friday evening, senior goalkeeper Mike Adler (5-2) made 19 saves - 10 in the first half and nine in the second - in the full 60:00.

"Mike continues to be an absolute anchor for us," said Wray of his senior captain. "He was sensational again today. 39 saves in two games this weekend; I've never seen anything like it. He is playing on another level, and his play elevates everyone around him."

Senior close defenseman Tyler Makar was tasked with defending Sean Lulley, who entered the game with 27 points recorded in his previous four games (6.75 ppg); Makar held Lulley to just three points, including just one goal, and forced a pair of turnovers, including one on Lulley, in an outstanding defensive effort.

"Ty continues to be terrific," added Wray. "He is one of the most underrated defensemen we've ever had. He did an incredible job in both games this weekend. He, along with seniors Josh Bosher and Liam Hare, led us on the defensive end."

Led by junior midfielder Evan Campbell, five Hawks recorded at least three points on the afternoon.

"Evan may have played his best game as a Hawk today," added Wray. "I'm really happy with the consistency he has shown so far this year."

Junior attackman Matt Tufano and redshirt freshman attackman Levi Anderson added two goals and two helpers each while freshman attackman Matt Bohmer (2g, 1a) and junior midfielder Austin Strazzulla (2g, 1a) rounded out SJU's quintet of multiple-goal scorers.

How It Happened
Q1 – Penn scored back-to-back goals to open the game, but Bohmer found Anderson (9:52) and Campbell found Tufano (6:05) to equalize in the middle of the first. Goldner, who finished the day with seven points, then scored twice (5:14, 3:49) to regain the Quakers' two-goal lead, but Bohmer came through with an unassisted score with just 26 seconds remaining to close the Hawks to within one, 4-3, by the end of the opening 15:00.

Q2 – In one of the most exciting offensive plays of the day, Campbell fired in a brilliant pass to Strazzulla, who put away the equalizer with just three seconds remaining on the possession clock to even it up, 4-4, at the 11:09 mark of the second just a minute after sophomore short stick defensive midfielder Andrew Chilson made a big defensive play down on the other end to regain possession. However, Penn used a 4-1 run to close the first half with an 8-5 advantage by the halftime break; at the 1:45 mark and with a 6-4 Penn lead, sophomore midfielder Zach Mantei went coast-to-coast and fired off an unassisted score to an eruption from Hawk fans across Sweeney Field.

Q3 – Saint Joseph's clawed its way back with three unanswered goals out of the halftime break, as Hare (14:01), Anderson (8:32), and Bohmer (8:04) scored to even out the scoring, 8-8. Penn responded with back-to-back goals in a 61-second span to take a 10-8 edge into the final 3:07 of the third, but Campbell took a nice feed from Anderson and fired off his fifth goal of the year to bring the Hawks to within one, 10-9, entering the final 15:00.

Q4 – Penn tacked on another score to open the fourth and go up by two on the Crimson and Gray, 11-9, at the 12:40 mark, but for the next seven minutes, it was all about the Hawks. Strazzulla converted the only EMO of the game - for either team - on a feed from junior midfielder Nate Patterson (11:46) before Campbell scored on a Tufano helper (7:06) to tie the score, 11-11, and Tufano scored on a perfect pass from Strazzulla (5:40) to give the Hawks their first lead of the game with 5:40 remaining in regulation. Penn responded immediately, as Gallagher won the face-off and hit Dylan Gergar for the 12-12 equalizer with 5:32 to play. The Hawks forced Penn keeper Patrick Burkinshaw into a pair of saves before Goldner scored the eventual game-winner with 48 ticks to go. Anderson rocketed a shot off the post with 28 seconds to play and Strazzulla scrapped for the ground ball to gain one final possession for the Hawks, but SJU's final shot attempt would go wide.

Behind the Boxscore
• Penn All-American face-off specialist Kyle Gallagher went 21-of-27 from the X, which included a 13-of-14 first half, to go with a game-high 18 ground balls.
• The Quakers held a 54-41 advantage in shots, in part due to a 22-7 second quarter, and a 44-28 advantage in ground balls, paced by a 12-2 second quarter.
• Saint Joseph's junior face-off specialist Billy Jardeleza got the call in place of Cole, winning four opportunities against Gallagher. Freshman Christopher Crapanzano made his collegiate face-off debut, going 2-of-4 from the X with two ground balls.

Up Next
#20 Saint Joseph's opens Northeast Conference action at Bryant (3-3) this Saturday, March 14. Opening face-off is set for noon at Beirne Stadium in Smithfield, R.I. The Bulldogs head down to #3 North Carolina this Tuesday before hosting the Hawks.

"I told the guys after the game to not be down in the dumps," closed Wray. "That game was as close as it gets. While we're all upset at the loss, if we had just converted on a couple more plays, we'd be on top of the world after this weekend. We won't let those couple of plays negatively impact our emotions or our mindset moving forward. This was another opportunity to get better, to learn, and to improve so we make the plays the next time out."