PISCATAWAY, N.J. – The Saint Joseph's men's lacrosse team earned its third-consecutive win in convincing fashion, dominationg Rutgers in an 11-5 win on Saturday afternoon inside SHI Stadium.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• The hosts opened the scoring with a pair of goals in the first eight minutes, keeping the Hawks at bay despite an early St. Joe's advantage in shots.
• Mark Watters tallied the first goal for the Hawks on what would eventually be an 11-1 run over the span of 44 minutes, bouncing his shot in from the left side of goal and into the netting.
• Richie LaCalandra leveled the game at 2-2 only moments later, wrapping around the net before firing a backhanded attempt that deflected off the goalkeeper's chest and crept across the goalline.
• Nearly 10 minutes of scoreless action ensued before Jesse Jason dished a behind-the-back pass to Ben Dutton as the rookie continued his strong start to the season with a clever dodge and finish at the near post.
• Levi Verch entered into the attack to provide a feed to LaCalandra, who smoked home a low-to-high attempt into the roof of the net.
• Griffin Mallory drove down the middle of the field, fighting off late contact to rip a 10-yard attempt to the lower left corner of the frame to double up the hosts.
• Dutton collected his second goal of the game before Jason scooped up a loose ball before winding up and firing into the netting with 12 seconds remaining in the half to give the Hawks an 8-3 lead at the break.
• LaCalandra opened the scoring in the second half with a dodge past his defender, tip-toeing near the crease before a diving shot went through the goalkeeper's legs for a 9-3 lead.
• The Hawk defense dominated on the other end of the field, forcing seven turnovers from the Scarlet Knights as Tommy Gross saved all three shots on goal to keep the hosts out of the net in the entirety of the third quarter.
• Jason provided the dagger in the fourth quarter, sprinting past his defender before hammering an attempt past the Rutgers goalkeeper.
• Trae Ika weaved his way past a group of defenders to become the sixth Hawk attackman to score to push the lead to 11-3.
• A pair of goals proved only consolation for Rutgers as the Hawks earned their third win in as many games in an 11-5 victory.

 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• Dutton and LaCalandra each scored three goals in the win. Dutton registered his second hat trick of the season, leading the team with 13 goals on the year.
• LaCalandra netted his second multi-goal game for a season-high five points in the win.
• The Hawk defense registered 16 caused turnovers, forcing Rutgers into 24 errors on the day.
• Verch recorded two caused turnovers and eight ground balls in the win.
• Michael Gaughan added a pair of caused turnovers, while Ryan Bradley tallied three caused turnovers and three ground balls in the victory.
• Gross followed his career-high performance against Towson with 14 saves on a .737 save percentage.
• St. Joe's held a 39-37 advantage in shots putting 24 of the 39 on target to force the Rutgers goalkeeper into 13 saves.
• The Scarlet Knights edged out the Hawks 10-8 in face-off wins.
• St. Joe's earned its third win in as many games after starting 0-2 on the season. The Hawks have allowed just 14 goals in the last three games. Saint Joseph's has allowed under 10 goals the last four contests.

 
UP NEXT
St. Joe's enters a three-game stretch against city competition, starting with a Sunday, March 9 tilt against Drexel. Action is set to begin at noon.