HIGH POINT, N.C. – The Saint Joseph's men's lacrosse team ran into a roadblock on Saturday afternoon at Vert Stadium, falling in an 11-9 defeat to High Point behind a 23-save performance from goalkeeper Zack Overend.
St. Joe's falls to 9-4 on the year and 2-2 in A-10 play. High Point improves to 6-7 on its campaign and is now 3-1 in the Atlantic.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- The Hawk midfield jumpstarted the offense early for the Hawks, Mark Watters scoring twice with Carter Truesdell adding a goal in the opening five minutes to give the Hawks an early 3-1 lead.
- Ben Dutton scored the first of his afternoon to help the Hawks to a 4-2 lead after the first quarter.
- Dutton countered a High Point goal with back-to-back strikes before Richie LaCalandra completed a 3-0 run to help the Hawks take a 7-4 lead into the half.
- High Point opened the half with the first four goals, taking its first lead of the game with 4:12 remaining in the third quarter.
- Watters registered his hat trick with two seconds remaining in the quarter to tie the game at 8-8 with 15 minutes remaining.
- A 23-save performance from High Point's Zack Overend helped the Panthers limit the Hawk attack in the fourth quarter, scoring three times over an eight-minute span to grow their largest lead at 11-8.
- A late goal from Watters tried sparking a comeback bid, but Overend closed the door on the ensuing possession as the hosts were able to run out the clock and secure an 11-9 victory.
GAME NOTES
- Mark Watters paced the Hawks with a team-high four goals in the defeat, one shy of matching his career-high of five set in the win at Towson earlier this season.
- Ben Dutton recorded his ninth hat trick of the season, moving into eighth in program history with 41 goals on the year.
- Richie LaCalandra finished with a goal and two assists on the afternoon, while Carter Truesdell scored and assisted a goal.
- Matthew Akers and Danny Gaalaas each recorded a pair of caused turnovers.
- Tommy Gross delivered a 12-save performance with a .522 save percentage.
- The Hawks outshot the Panthers by a 52-31 margin, including a 32-23 advantage in shots on goal.
UP NEXT
The Hawks host Richmond on Friday, April 25 in the regular season finale on Sweeney Field. Action is slated to begin 4 p.m.