VILLANOVA, Pa. – An eight-goal first quarter propelled the Saint Joseph's men's lacrosse team to an 11-9 road victory over No. 14/16 Villanova on Saturday afternoon.
 
Saint Joseph's wasted no time setting the tone, scoring on its first four possessions. Carter Truesdell opened the scoring, finishing his own rebound. After Villanova won the ensuing faceoff, Matt Fritz forced a caused turnover deep in the Wildcats' defensive zone, and Colby Wood converted to double the advantage.
 
Trae Ika and Will Barber sandwiched Villanova's lone goal of the quarter to build a 4-1 lead just five minutes into the contest.
 
Tyler Moore then ignited a 4-0 run over the final three minutes of the quarter. Truesdell finished off a feed from Moore before Wood and Barber each netted their second goals of the day. Moore capped the dominant opening frame, spinning past two defenders and finishing through contact to give the Hawks an 8-1 lead after 15 minutes.
 
Villanova responded in the second quarter, shutting out the Hawks while closing the half on a 5-0 run to trim the deficit to 8-6 at the break.
 
Out of halftime, Saint Joseph's snapped a 27-minute scoring drought when Ben Dutton tallied his first goal of the season, restoring a three-goal advantage with seven minutes remaining in the third quarter. Five minutes later, Barber completed his hat trick to push the Hawks' lead to 10-6 entering the final stanza.
 
The Wildcats cut the margin to two goals midway through the fourth quarter, scoring with 7:31 remaining while holding a man advantage. However, despite being a man down, the Hawks won the ensuing faceoff. Jack McGorry capitalized on an opportunity, left with open space in front of the goal by Wildcat defensemen as the senior finished from close range to extend the lead to 11-8.
 
Villanova added one more goal with four minutes to play, but Tommy Gross anchored the defense down the stretch, making four key saves in the final minutes to preserve the 11-9 victory.
 

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• Redshirt freshman Will Barber opened his collegiate scoring account with a team-high three goals and added an assist for four points.
• Tyler Moore and Colby Wood each scored twice. Wood joined Barber in recording his first collegiate goal.
• Seven different Hawks recorded caused turnovers, with Elliot Morgan leading the way with three in just his second career game.
• Goalkeeper Tommy Gross made 14 saves for a .609 save percentage.
• Saint Joseph's went 14-for-25 at the faceoff dot, led by Matt Fritz, who secured 13 wins.
• Villanova outshot the Hawks 43-34, though the shots-on-goal margin was just 23-21.
• The Hawks improve to 4-11 all-time against Villanova and have now won three of the last four meetings between the programs.
• Head coach Scott Meehan earned his first win at the helm of the Hawks, collecting his first win against a ranked team. The Hawks have now earned a road win against a ranked foe in each of the last three years, with five wins either on the road or at a neutral site.

 
UP NEXT
Saint Joseph's returns home for its season opener at Sweeney Field on Friday, February 20, hosting Towson at 5 p.m.