The Hawk

Issue date: 4/9/08 Section: Sports

O'Neill's four points was not enough to lead the Hawks over the Keydets.

In an important game for conference positioning, the Saint Joseph's men's lacrosse team came up just short of a victory in Lexington, Va., against Virginia Military Institute, 14-12. With the win, VMI snapped a five-game losing streak against the Hawks that dated back to 1996.

The offense got back on track in Virginia as the Hawks were able to score double-digits for the first time since an 18-10 loss to Delaware in the season's first game. Attackman Scott Cullinan, '11, paced St. Joe's with five goals and leads the team in goals scored this season with 20 tallies on the season. After Cullinan's outburst, the Hawks' scoring was balanced, with five players scoring the remaining seven goals. Tri-captain Steve Varga, '08, notched two goals and one assist, bringing his team-leading season point total to 24 (13 goals, 11 assists). Fellow attackman Chris O'Neill, '09, tallied two goals and two assists, while Alex Lopes, '09, added two more assists to his team-leading total of 13 to round out the attack's scoring.

From the midfield, the Hawks received scoring help from Sean Evans, '10, tri-captain Steve O'Brien, '08, and Laurent Dionot, '08, who each found the back of the net. O'Brien and defenseman Ben Osborne, '09, notched assists as well.

Goalie Erik Hotaling, '09, had a rough afternoon, allowing 14 goals while stopping just nine shots. St. Joe's defense had no answer for the scoring tandem of Kevin Hill (five goals, three assists) and Brett Leonard (four goals, four assists). Matt Harrison and Tim Moran, with three and two goals, respectively, rounded out a scoring attack that had just enough firepower to outgun the Hawks.

Both the Hawks and the Keydets entered the game tied for third place in the MAAC conference standings with 2-1 records. The Hawks fell to fourth place with its 2-2 record, just a half-game better than Mount Saint Mary's, Manhattan, and Siena, who all possess 1-2 conference records. Each of the Hawks' final four conference games take on added importance, as St. Joe's needs to be one of the four best teams in the conference to qualify for the MAAC postseason tournament and have an opportunity to play its way into the NCAA Tournament.

St. Joe's moves on to face Providence at home on April 12. The game is a great opportunity for the Hawks to make a statement in the conference, as the Friars have posted a 4-0 conference record thus far. Although the Friars were winless in five games out of conference, they played well against national powerhouse programs like third-ranked Maryland and sixth-ranked North Carolina early in the season.

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