HIGH POINT, N.C. – A second quarter surge that saw the Hawks tally five goals in under two minutes led to Saint Joseph's men's lacrosse defeating High Point by a 17-11 margin on Saturday afternoon in Vert Stadium.
 
With the win, the Hawks claimed an outright share of the Atlantic 10 title after going 5-0 in the inaugural season, now sitting at 10-4 overall after closing out the regular season with six-straight wins. High Point falls to 9-6 overall and 2-3 in A-10 action, having entered today's game locked in as the #4 seed in next week's postseason tournament.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• Both teams hit the woodwork in the opening minutes of the contest, Shayne Ryan being the first goalkeeper called into action as the redshirt-freshman made a clean save from close to keep the Panthers off the board.
• With two of the top offenses in the Atlantic 10 matching up, it took more than six minutes to breakthrough as Stephen Dwyer rippled the netting with his strong effort as the Hawks took advantage of the man-up opportunity.
• As the hosts got their foot in the door with a pair of goals, Colin Reich responded as he tiptoed on the crease and finished home for his 12^th goal of the season. 45 seconds later, the Hawks tallied another to gain an advantage as Griffin Mallory scored in his second-consecutive goal after recording his first collegiate goal last week.
• A High Point goal with 11 seconds left in the first knotted the teams at 3-3 heading into the second frame.
• With the Panthers re-establishing a lead just over a minute into the second, a save from Ryan triggered a counter attack as the goalkeeper lofted a perfectly weighted pass to successfully clear. Jack McGorry finished the attack off, finding space before firing low and past the High Point keeper.
• The Hawks offense exploded after High Point tallied another to take a 5-4 lead. Tucker Brown began a 5-0 run in just 1:26 of game time with a bolt past the goalkeeper to grab the second goal in extra-man opportunity.
• Only 13 seconds later, Carter Page found his first of the afternoon with a quick flick to the top left corner. Another 14 seconds elapsed before Levi Anderson broke to the crease and finished from close range.
• Zach Cole kept the Hawks offense in the attack with multiple consecutive wins at the X, giving SJU an opportunity to grab another from Page as Matt Bohmer found the Canadian attacker for his third assist of the half.
• Matt Popeck closed out the quick spurt with a long-range effort, the long stick midfielder finding open space before firing home to turn the game on its head.
• High Point were able to grab a goal back prior to the end of the half as St. Joe's took a 9-6 lead into the break.
• Opening the third quarter, the Panthers tallied another to cut the deficit to two. But Brown responded just under six minutes into the quarter, easily dodging his defender to make a clear path on goal, tossing it through the legs of the goalkeeper to push the Hawk lead to 10-7.
• Page tallied his hat trick a minute later after Mallory found his teammate. Bohmer also struck home for a quick three-goal burst just moments later to grab his first tally of the game after his hat trick of assists.
• Mallory remained in the center of the action on offense, taking another turn to fire home after beating his defender one-on-one before firing high and into the net for his second of the day, capping off a 4-0 run before the Panthers finally tallied one back.
• Anderson tallied two quick goals in the closing stages of the third quarter, the first one on his own before firing over his left shoulder to the top right corner. With a minute remaining, Bohmer converted with the Canadian attack on an alley-oop, setting Anderson up for an easy finish as he leapt near the crease and quick fired the lobbed pass to convert on another Hawk EMO. St. Joe's took the 15-8 advantage into the final frame of the afternoon.
• The two teams split goals over the first five minutes of the quarter, Trae Ika returning the favor to the Panthers for his third goal of the season to increase the Hawk lead back to seven.
• The Hawks closed out the game, taking a 17-11 win to secure the third-straight undefeated conference campaign and the first in the newly formed Atlantic 10 men's lacrosse conference.

 
GAME NOTES

• Carter Page has now scored in 26 consecutive games, tallying 81 goals in that span. It is the fifth-longest active streak in the country. Page entered the top 10 in program history in goals scored, sitting in a tie for ninth place with 99 goals in his career. Page sits seven goals shy of the program record of goals in a season (51) set last year.
• Levi Anderson leaped to a tie for sixth all-time in program history after his hat trick, netting his 105^th career goal.
• Matt Bohmer finished with an impressive four assists on the afternoon, adding a goal to lead the team with five points.
• Tucker Brown recorded his third hat trick of the year, the first since a three-goal outing against Drexel.
• Griffin Mallory recorded his second and third career goal in the win, all coming in the last two games.
• Matt Popeck scored his first goal of the season and just the seventh of his career with his long range effort.
• Zach Cole went 15-27 from the X, earning 11 ground balls on the afternoon.
• Cole Peters led the Hawks defensively, causing three turnovers.
• Shayne Ryan made nine saves in the cage on a .474 save percentage.
• Eight different goal scorers tallied the nine goals in the first half. 10 different Hawks grabbed a goal in the contest.
• Despite a 40-37 margin in shots in favor of the Panthers, the Hawks converted more attempts on frame with a 25-20 advantage in shots on goal.
• The Hawks have now completed the third-straight season unblemished in conference play, winning the last 20 games in the last three seasons.
• St. Joe's moves to 3-1 all time against the Panthers, scoring the most goals in series history and becoming the first road team on the recent rivalry to grab a win.

 
UP NEXT

• The Hawks rematch the Panthers in the opening round of the Atlantic 10 Tournament next Thursday, May 4. The two teams meet in Richmond with a 5:30 p.m. face off.