Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 3/6/20
From Press Release
Senior goalkeper Mike Adler made a career-high 20 saves and rookies Matt Bohmer and Levi Anderson combined for nine points to lead the #20 Saint Joseph’s men’s lacrosse squad to a 10-9 win over Drexel on Day 1 of the Philly 4 Lacrosse Classic, hosted by Penn at Franklin Field on Friday evening. With their fourth consecutive win, the Hawks improve to 5-1 while the Dragons drop to 2-2.
The win marks SJU’s second win over Drexel in the last three years and the Hawks’ first win in a Philly 4 Lacrosse Classic game.
Adler (5-1) made nine first-half saves and 11 second-half saves en route to his 22nd career victory between the pipes.
“Tonight was a true team win,” beamed Adler following the game. “From the guys on the bench to the guys on the field, the energy was awesome. I couldn’t be happier for our team. Drexel has a tremendous offense, which presented a huge challenge for our defense. I think we had the advantage before the game even started; Coach [Mike] Horowitz gave us a phenomenal game plan, which enabled us to play with so much confidence.”
Senior close defenseman Tyler Makar was tasked with defending Drexel’s Matthew Varian, who entered the game averaging 6.33 points and 3.50 helpers per contest. Makar held Varian to just one goal and one assist for the full 60:00. Redshirt freshman Joe Burnham (La Salle) also starred on the defensive end with three ground balls and two caused turnovers on the night.
Freshman Bohmer put away a game-high four goals while redshirt-freshman Anderson scored a pair and assisted on three others to lead seven Hawks in recording at least one point in the win; Bohmer and Anderson also scrapped for four ground balls apiece.
Sophomore face-off specialist Zach Cole (Lenape-NJ) continued his impressive start to the season, going 16-of-23 (70 percent) from the X, including 8-of-10 in the second half, to go with a team-high six ground balls. The transition unit was strong as senior long stick midfielder Liam Hare (Spring-Ford), senior short stick defensive midfielder Jack Anderson (4gb) combined for nine ground balls and sophomore midfielder Zach Mantei registered two caused turnovers.
How It Happened
Four different Hawks hit the back of the net as Saint Joseph’s scored four of the first five goals of the game, led by L. Anderson (Q1, 14:19), Bohmer (Q1, 13:05), junior midfielder Evan Campbell (Q1, 10:02) and junior midfielder Nate Patterson (Q1, 6:59); in his first start of the season, Patterson had a goal and a helper in that opening run to spark the Hawks’ offensive efforts.
Drexel responded with five of the game’s next six goals to take its first and only lead, 6-5, at the 6:31 mark of the third quarter; L. Anderson put away an unassisted score (Q2, 8:34) to break up the run.
Bohmer answered. The freshman attackman scored twice in a span of nine seconds (Q3, 4:29, 4:20) to put the Hawks back ahead, 7-6, and Mantei closed the third quarter by forcing a turnover on Varian, clearing, and scoring with five ticks to go to send the Hawks into the fourth up by two, 8-6.
Drexel inched to within one to open the fourth on a Ryan Genord goal (12:41), but L. Anderson found Bohmer (8:40) for Anderson’s third assist and Bohmer’s fourth goal. Drexel’s Reid Bowering (3G) then converted the only successful EMO on the night, as the teams combined to go just 1-of-9 in extra-man opportunities, to bring the Dragons back to one, 9-8, with 5:00 to go. However, Cole did what Cole does as the sophomore won the ensuing face-off possession and scored just seven seconds later to give the Hawks a two-goal cushion, 10-8, with 4:53 remaining in regulation.
The Dragons scored again with 3:36 to play, and with six seconds left, it came down to Jack Mulcahy (2g, 3a, Downingtown East) against Adler. Mulcahy fired off what could have ended up as the late equalizer, but Adler came up with his fifth save of the quarter and 20th of the game to preserve the victory for the Crimson and Gray.
Despite being outshot 51-35 (29-16 SOG), the Hawks came out victorious with Adler’s 20 saves.
Up Next
Saint Joseph’s returns home to host #9 Penn in Day 2 of the Philly 4 Lacrosse Classic this Sunday, March 8. Opening face-off is set for 2:30 p.m. on Sweeney Field, following the first game of the day between Drexel and Villanova.