PHILADELPHIA—The 16th-ranked Saint Joseph's Hawks defeated Hobart 15-7 on Sweeney Field this afternoon. The Hawks jumped out to a 5-0 first quarter lead and never trailed.
Seniors
John Jude Considine and
Will Delano each netted a pair of goals for the Statesmen. Sophomore
Mike Valent dominated the faceoff X, winning 14-of-20 while corralling a game-high eight ground balls. Sophomore
Jackson Faiola made five saves in 35:37, while junior
Elhanan Wilson made seven stops in relief.
Graduate student Richie LaCalandra and Ben Dutton led the offense. LaCalandra produced eight points on four goals and four assists, while Dutton scored five goals and assisted on one. The Hawks came into the game fifth in the nation in caused turnovers per game and added 17 more to their season total. Ryan Bradley and Liam Quinn were credited with three apiece. The Hawks used three goalies who combined for three saves.
FIRST QUARTER
- In the first quarter, Hobart kept SJU off the board for the first five minutes, but once the home team got going they kept finding new ways to score.
- LaCalandra opened the scoring on a shot from the top of the box.
- The Hawks tried to go inside for their second goal, but a timely check by Brady Comella knocked the ball loose. Unfortunately, it bounced right to Jack McGorry, who fired it home.
- Griffin Mallory made it 3-0 with a mid-range bounce shot followed a minute later Braedon Chayes goal on the doorstep that was set up by LaCalandra, who waited for the slide to come before feeding the crease.
- Dutton made it 5-0 with a goal in transition that bounced off both posts before going in.
SECOND QUARTER
- Delano scored both of his goals early in the second quarter. Both shots were low to low with his first goal finding the left corner and the second the right.
- After a three-goal run by the Hawks, first-year Daniel Cano used a shake-and-bake move at the top of the box to lose his defender and create space for his sixth goal of the season.
- SJU scored three of the final four goals of the half.
- Graduate student Cole Emmanuel and Alex Rosa teamed up for the Hobart goal. After SJU took a 9-3 lead, Hobart was also flagged for a cross-check. Emmanuel won the ensuing and dished to Rosa who rifled a blistering shot past the Hawks' goalie. It was his team-leading 20th goal of the season and his second man-down goal of the year.
THIRD QUARTER
- Saint Joseph's opened the second half with three straight goals to extend its lead to 14-4.
- Hobart answered with three straight of its own and Considine factored into all three.
- At 8:25, Considine delivered a check on the ride, jarring the ball loose. Junior Cade Dino picked it up and scored on the doorstep.
- Then with 1:01 left in the quarter, Considine used a swim move to split a double team and scored from in close.
- Finally with time running out for the Hobart defense to clear midfield against SJU's 10-man ride, Comella took a length of the field shot. A Hawks defenseman got in front of the shot to deflect it wide of the cage, but Considine was in the right place to grab the ground ball and dunk home his 14th goal of the year on an empty crease.
FOURTH QUARTER
- SJU scored the only goal of the final frame.
- The Hawks defense, which came into the day third in the nation in scoring defense, allowing just 8.0 goals per game, held Hobart to just three shots over the final 15 minutes.
GAME NOTES
- Rosa is the first Statesman to have more than one man-down goal in a season since 2004. Mike Conklin '06, who also scored two man-down, is the only other player to accomplish the feat in the program's Division I era.
- Rosa extended his points streak to a team-leading 12 games.
- Valent improved his season faceoff winning percentage to .658, just behind Matthew Pedicine's Hobart DI era season record .659 set in 2018.
FOR THE RECORD
- Saint Joseph's improved to 9-3 overall, 2-1 in the Atlantic 10.
- Hobart fell to 3-9, 0-3.
HEADED HOME
- The Statesmen will head back to Boswell Field at Urick Stadium for their final home of the year. On Senior Day, Hobart will host St. Bonaventure at 2 p.m. Saturday, April 19.
