Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 4/21/13
From Press Releases
A five-goal run by Notre Dame to bridge the third and fourth quarters made the difference as No. 19 Villanova (5-7, 4-1) dropped a close contest to the No. 2 Irish (10-2, 4-1) 13-9 on Saturday afternoon in South Bend, Ind. The defeat marked the first conference loss for the Wildcats this season as VU fell to 5-7 overall and 4-1 in the BIG EAST. All of Villanova’s losses in 2013 have come via opponents ranked the in top-20 of the national polls.
Despite the loss, Villanova has secured a spot in the BIG EAST Championship to be held May 2nd and 4th at Villanova Stadium with their 13-11 win over St. John’s last weekend in Jamaica, N.Y.
Senior Jack Rice led the Wildcats with four goals and posted his 18th career hat trick while junior John LoCascio collected seven ground balls and four caused turnovers on the defensive end.
In a game that featured four tied scores and four lead changes, Notre Dame outscored the Wildcats by a 7-3 margin in the fourth quarter as ND’s John Scioscia tallied three of his four scores on the day during the period. With 8:49 left to play, Villanova made it a one-goal game when Rice notched two goals to close the gap at 10-9, but the Irish responded with three-straight scores to close the contest at 13-9 in favor of the hosts.
Westy Hopkins (La Salle, Lawrenceville School) scored once for the Irish while Stephen O’Hara (St. Joseph’s Prep) led the defense with five groundballs and Tyler Andersen (Radnor) had one groundball.
The Wildcats opened the second half with three goals to match their biggest lead of the game at 6-4 with seniors Will Casertano Max Hart and Rice finding the back of the net off of Nick Doherty and John Kluh assists, but the Irish responded with their five-goal run that held Villanova scoreless for 12:42 to take the lead at 9-6 with 13:06 left in the contest.
In another standout performance, junior faceoff specialist Thomas Croonquist won 16-of-26 attempts at midfield on the afternoon. It marked the fourth game this season that the junior tallied at least 15 faceoffs wins in a single game. Sophomore Reed Carlson collected 12 saves in the defeat while Notre Dame’s John Kemp made 14 stops for the win.
Michigan 11, St. Joseph’s 8
Leading 8-7 with 22:38 remaining in regulation, the Hawks fell to a 4-0 Michigan run that spanned the rest of the game. SJU now stands at 5-9 overall while remaining 1-4 in CAA action.
Matthew Sarcona, Johnny Simanski, and Pat Swanick (St. Joseph’s Prep) were strong on the offensive end with two goals apiece while Williams contributed one goal and a pair of assists. Swanick picked up a team-high five ground balls while Williams was solid on the defensive end of the field as well, picking up three ground balls and causing two turnovers.
Sophomore goalkeeper Dustin Keen (Downingtown West made 12 saves in a full 60:00.
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