AMHERST, Mass. – The Saint Joseph's men's lacrosse team have eyes on the crown, the 11-9 win over UMass on Thursday afternoon pushing the Hawks into the Atlantic 10 Championship game on Saturday.
 
St. Joe's secured its 11^th win in a row to move to 11-3 (5-0 Atlantic 10). UMass ends its season at 6-8 (2-3 Atlantic 10).
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• Griffin Mallory opened the scoring for the Hawks, doubling his tally less than 10 minutes into the game to help give the Hawks an early 2-1 lead.
• Both defenses settled into the contest, St. Joe's breaking more than a six-minute drought by both teams as the Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Year Jesse Jason thundered a shot into the netting to start the second quarter.
• The Minutemen tallied two quick goals before a response from Levi Anderson pushed the Hawk lead back to 4-3.
• Despite a 26-15 advantage in shots in the first half, neither team scored over the final 10 minutes as the Hawks took the one-goal advantage into the break.
• Gavin Tygh won the opening face-off to start the third quarter, feeding Alex Keener who dropped an attempt into the top right netting just seven seconds into the second half.
• Carter Page added his first goal of the game after a quick reaction to grab a ground ball near the cage. The senior faked a shot on his left before wrapping around his back and finding the netting.
• After a response from UMass, the Hawks were able to find a quick answer as Levi Anderson shrugged past his defender off a fake shot from a tight angle, sneaking the effort past the goalkeeper.
• Anderson grabbed his hat trick nearly five minutes later, this time using his power to put his defender on his right hip before driving his shot into the net from range.
• UMass tallied the last goal of the game, able to close the gap to 8-6 entering the final frame.
• Cutting the deficit to one goal twice in the opening seven minutes of the fourth, Matt Bohmer was there to shut the door each time as the attackman scored his only two goals of the game in the final frame.
• Toron Eccleston slipped by his defender before dishing off to Anderson near the goalmouth, the Canadian connection all but sealing the game as the Hawks were able to close out the contest with an 11-9 margin.

 
 
GAME NOTES

• The 11-game win streak is the longest active streak in the country, matching the program record set in the 2018 season.
• Levi Anderson scored four goals and tallied an assist to lead the way for the Hawks, taking a team-high 13 shots on the afternoon. The Canadian also added five ground balls in the win. The four goals surpassed assistant coach Mike Rastivo, becoming the third Hawk this season to break the former record held by the 2018 graduate.
• Griffin Mallory tallied just his second game with multiple goals this season, opening the afternoon with the first two strikes for the Hawks.
• Matt Bohmer pushed his career total to 148 goals, the program leader adding a pair of crucial goals in the closing stages of the contest. Bohmer also added three caused turnovers and picked up a pair of ground balls.
• Carter Page struck the netting for the 41^st consecutive game, the fourth-longest active streak in the country.
• Alex Keener was dominant on the day, the First Team All-Conference selection proving the plaudits correct as the long-stick midfielder tallied four caused turnovers, five ground balls and a goal.
• Gavin Tygh recorded his fifth consecutive game with an above .500 face-off win percentage, tallying 12-23 on the day with eight ground balls.
• Tommy Gross recorded his 10th win of the season, recording 11 saves with a .550 save percentage and three ground balls.
• St. Joe's outshot the Minutemen by a 48-34 margin, a 30-20 advantage in shots on goal to continue to outshoot opponents in every game this season.
• The Hawks were a perfect 21-21 in clears, while UMass was held to 21-27 on the afternoon.
• St. Joe's has held opponents to under 10 goals in each of the last six games and in nine of the 14 games on the season.

 
 
UP NEXT

• The Hawks face Richmond for the second time in seven days. The first matchup decided the regular season champion, Saturday's matchup deciding the tournament champion. First face-off is slated for a 1 p.m. matchup.