Pictured Above: Sophomore Midfielder Aaron Denesevich (photo by Bob Park)

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Staten Island, NY – The Wagner men's lacrosse, fresh off a 10-8 win over NJIT which gave the Seahawks a program-record five victories on the season, will host Northeast Conference (NEC) rival Saint Joseph's on Saturday in a 1:00 p.m. faceoff at Hameline Field.

Afer eclipsing the previous single-season record of four wins set last season, the Green & White are 5-5 on the year and 0-1 in NEC play while the Hawks enter Saturday's matchup with an overall mark of 6-2 and are 1-0 in league play.

Series History
Saturday's game will mark the 16th all-time meeting between the Hawks and the Seahawks; Saint Joseph's has won all 15 contests, including a 14-3 victory in the teams' most recent meeting on April 7 of last season. 
 
Seahawks at a Glance
After opening the season 1-3 with a season-opening win over Manhattan (15-8) and losses to Lafayette (12-7), Monmouth (8-4), and Rutgers (15-7), Wagner has won four of its last six with victories over Dartmouth (7-6), VMI (7-6) Hampton (18-4), back-to-back losses to UMass Lowell (12-11) and Hobart (10-9 3OT), and, most recently, a win over NJIT (10-8) on March 26. Sophomore attackman Andrew Streilein (Mt. Laurel, NJ/Lenape) [3g, 21a], redshirt junior midfielder William McMenamin (Longport, NJ/St. Augustine Prep [19g, 2a], and redshirt junior attackman Patrick McMenamin (Longport, NJ/St. Augustine Prep [14g, 6a] lead the Seahawks in scoring while freshman goalie Matt Sefcik (Towaco, NJ/Morristown Beard school) owns an 8.87 GAA and .497 save percentage in 574:44. Wagner went 4-9 overall and 1-5 in league play last season. 
 
Seahawks in the NCAA Rankings
Wagner ranks ninth nationally in man-down defense, holding opponents scoreless 75% of the time and 14th in caused turnovers/game (8.30).
 
Saint Joseph's at a Glance
Through eight games, Tewarraton Award Watch List selection Mike Rastivo (19g, 13a) and sophomore attackman Chris Blewitt (17g, 10a) lead SJU with 25+ points while senior midfielder Kevin Forster (14g, 7a), junior midfielder Kevin Reidinger (13g, 1a), and sophomore attackman Kyle Cain (12g, 7a) also own double-digit goals scored for the Crimson and Gray. Junior face-off specialist Mike Lanham has gone 61% (81-of-131) from the X and has won 17 face-off opportunities in three different games this season to go with a team-best 35 ground balls while senior John Winchell team-best 9ct) and juniors Charles Giunta and Shane Taggert have anchored SJU's defensive unit. Junior goalkeeper T.J. Jones (6-2, 1-0 NEC) sports a 6.88 goals against average and .584 save percentage in 453:30.
 
Last Time Out
The three McMenamin brothers combined for seven goals, three assists and nine groundballs as Wagner overcame a 3-0 deficit in recording the 10-8 win over NJIT on March 26. Redshirt-junior midfielder William McMenamin (Lonngport, NJ/St. Augustine Prep) paced Wagner with four goals, his identical twin and fellow redshirt-junior middie Patrick McMenamin accounted for two goals and three assists. Older brother Michael McMenamin, a fifth-year senior defensive middie also got into the act offensively with a second-half goal while each of the brothers collected three groundballs on the day. The Seahawks had plenty of scoring chances in the opening half but were unable to get one shot past NJIT goalie Nick Marzullo who was magnificent in the first half, recording 11 of his 16 saves over the game's first 30 minutes as the Highlanders grabbed that 3-0 lead at the intermission. The momentum of the game shifted dramatically in Wagner's favor at the outset of the second half when junior Anthony Labetti (Moorestown, NJ/Moorestown) won the opening faceoff, scooping up the groundball himself before finding Patrick McMenamin. The midfielder then located freshman long-stick defender Riley Owens who then connected on a 20-yard blast, the first score of his career, to make it a 3-1 game just 11 seconds into the second half. The Owens goal seemed to set a jolt throughout a Seahawk lineup that was frustrated after coming off of its first scoreless half of the season, and ignited a 4-0 scoring spree. William McMenamin drew Wagner to within 3-2 with a goal at 12:09 which came on the first of three assists notched by sophomore attackman Andrew Strelein (Mt. Laurel, NJ/Lenape). The Seahawks then quickly tied the game 10 seconds later at 3-3 with a bang-bang goal similar to the Owens goal that began the half. Labetti again led this quick-strike sequence, winning the faceoff by collecting the groundball before feeding ahead to Patrick McMenamin who then buried a shot from 10 yards out.  A brother act then combined on the go-ahead goal as William McMenamin connected off an assist from Patrick at the 7:34 mark of the third quarter to complete the 4-0 run and give Wagner a 4-3 lead. NJIT's Jesse Rice then sank a goal at 4:04 of the third after receiving a pass from Aaron Forster as the teams entered the fourth quarter tied at 4-4. After William McMenamin gave the Seahawks a 5-4 lead off an assist from Streilein two minutes into the final period, the Highlanders responded with a Ryan Bradway unassisted tally at the 12:04 mark which forged the game's final tie at 5-5.  Wagner then embarked on a game-changing 3-0 run on goals by Streilein,, William McMenamin and freshman attackman Kevin Gray (Shamong, NJ/Seneca), the latter of which came with 8:43 left that staked the Seahawks to an 8-5 lead. After Michael McMenamin stretched the lead back to three goals at 9-6 with an unassisted score at the 6:49 mark, NJIT rallied with goals by John Roach and Joe Lomelli to make it a 9-8 game with 1:01 left. With NJIT forced to gamble by employing its goalie, Mazzullo, as a defender in trying to force a turnover deep in the Highlanders' end, Patrick McMenamin snuck loose for a five-yard, open net goal with 34 seconds left to seal the win by putting the Seahawks ahead 10-8. Freshman goalie Matt Sefcik (Towaco, NJ/Morristown Beard School) was stout in goal, recording seven saves on the day as Wagner outscored NJIT 10-5 in the second half en route to the in. The Seahawks held a 41-22 edge in shots and led in groundballs 36-30. Labetti played a key role in the victory, wing 14-of-20 faceoffs for Wagner as the Seahawks won 15-of-22 overall, while collecting a game-high seven ground balls.
 
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