Above: Sophomore midfielder Cory Santor had a team-leading two goals vs. Saint Joseph's

FINAL STATS

Philadelphia, PA – The Wagner College men's lacrosse team overcame an early 3-1 deficit by scoring three straight goals to enter halftime on top by the count of 4-3 but Saint Joseph's was able to wear the Seahawks down in the second half in posting a hard-fought 10-4 victory.

In dropping this physical, defensive-minded battle, the Seahawks fall to 0-4 on the season while Saint Joseph's, which plays out of the rugged Atlantic 10 Conference, improves to 3-2.

Sophomore midfielder Cory Santor (Glastonbury, CT/ Glastonbury) put Wagner on the board and tied the game at 1-1 with 3:40 left in the first quarter off a feed from senior midfielder Colin O'Rourke (Worcester, MA/ St. John's Shrewsbury). The Hawks then countered with goals by Kyle Williams and Pat Swanick, at 1:35 and 0:30 of the first quarter, respectively, to take a 3-1 lead into the second quarter, a 15 minutes of play that was arguably Wagner's finest of the season. The Seahawks outscored Saint Joseph's 3-0 in the stanza, receiving goals from freshman attackmen Griffen Sinclaire and Reed Sinclaire (White Rock, BC/ Hill Academy) as well as Santor's second of the half, an unassisted effort with 48 seconds left as Wagner took it first halftime lead of the season by the score of 4-3.

While the Seahawks' defense was to keep the Saint Joseph's offense at bay for the most part, Wagner's offense could not find any holes in the Hawk defense during the second half. Williams tied the game at 4-4 just 1:05 into the second half before Michael Dougherty shook free for three unanswered goals to make it 7-4 and the Hawks would tack on three more in fashioning the final score of 10-4.

Junior goalie Nicholas Gibaldi (Rocky Point, NY/ Rocky Point) delivered a valiant effort in goal, coming up with a career-high 22 saves. Santor's two goals led Wagner offensively while the Leclaire brothers finished with one each. Sophomore defender Matt Bunting (Wyckoff, NJ/ Ramapo) continued his offensive ways as he recorded an assist one game after going coast-to-coast in notching his first goal of the season. O'Rourke also wound up with one assist for the Green & White.

Dougherty and Swanick paced the Hawks with three goals apiece while Matthew Sarcona and Williams added two each. Goalie Dustin Keen recorded nine saves for Saint Joseph's.

The homestanding Hawks held a significant 52-19 advantage in shots and corralled 29 grounds balls to Wagner's 15. In the faceoff department, Saint Joseph's held an 11-6 margin there. Wagner was successful on 1-of-3 extra-man opportunities while the Hawks' man-down defense did a solid job, holding Saint Joseph's to 2-of-6 on its extra-man chances.

Wagner is next in action on Saturday, March 9 when the Seahawks entertain Mercer College of Georgia in a 1:00 pm tilt.