PHILADELPHIA - The weather forecast for Saturday called for a steady downpour, but even Mother Nature couldn't rain on the Hawks' parade as the Saint Joseph's men's lacrosse team secured its first-ever NCAA Tournament berth with a 14-7 win over Hobart in the NEC title game at Sweeney Field.

The Hawks will learn their NCAA Tournament assignment during the 2022 NCAA Tournament Selection Show, scheduled for Sunday night at 9:00 p.m. on ESPNU.

HOW IT HAPPENED
• Saint Joseph's (14-3) jumped out to an early lead through goals from Tucker Brown and Levi Anderson.  Brown sandwiched another goal between two Statesmen tallies before Carter Page made it a 4-2 lead after a quarter.

• Page scored 21 ticks into the second quarter before Derrek Madonna tallied his second of the day with 14:02 to go in the frame to make it 5-3.

• Alex Keener kicked off a 4-0 spurt to end the half that featured two more from Page and one from Colin Reich to send the Hawks into the break with a 9-3 lead.

• Hobart (7-6) opened the second half with another goal from Madonna, but three in a row from Brown, Page, and Matt Bohmer put the Hawks up by eight before Ryan Archer tallied for the Statesmen at the end of the third quarter.

• Anderson scored 11 seconds into the fourth to push the lead to 13-5 before a pair of Hobart goals closed the margin to six midway through the final stanza.  At that point, the Hawk defense clamped down, denying the Statesmen the rest of the way before a tally by Bohmer with 1:43 to go closed out the scoring and kickstarted the celebration among the Hawk faithful.

BEHIND THE BOX SCORE
• Robbie Seeley made 16 saves in the cage for the Hawks, while Kevin Holtby had 14 stops for Hobart.

• Page led all scorers with five goals and five points, while Brown tallied three times and both Anderson and Bohmer found the net twice.  Anderson added two assists for a four-point afternoon.

• Seeley's performance in the tournament earned him Most Outstanding Player honors; he was joined on the All-Tournament Team by Anderson, Page, Logan Blondell, and Zach Cole.

UP NEXT
• The Hawks will learn their first NCAA Tournament opponent on Sunday night.  Opening Round matchups are set for Wednesday, May 11, while the First Round takes place on Saturday, May 14, and Sunday, May 15.