Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 2/18/20
From Press Release
The Saint Joseph’s men’s lacrosse team outscored No. 20 Delaware, 5-0, in the fourth quarter en route to an 11-8 come-from-behind victory at Sweeney Field on Tuesday.
Mike Adler made 18 saves, while Shane Fable led the offense with three goals, including the eventual game-winner. Also, Zach Cole (Lenape) won 14 of 22 faceoffs for the Hawks.
HOW IT HAPPENED
• After a back-and-forth third quarter, Delaware (2-1) held an 8-6 lead heading into the final 15 minutes. That’s when Cole took over from the X, winning all six faceoffs in the fourth quarter to spark the comeback. The Hawks turned two consecutive faceoff wins into goals, tying the score at 8-8 just 63 seconds into the quarter after tallies from Matt Bohmer and LSM Liam Hare (Spring-Ford).
• Fable would net his third of the day with 9:08 to play to give the Hawks their first lead since the second quarter before Ryan Kemp notched the first goal of his career on a man-up opportunity to double the advantage.
• Hare put away his second goal of the quarter with 6:09 remaining to make it an 11-8 game. Cole and Adler did the rest for SJU, with the senior goalkeeper making three big saves in the closing minutes to keep the Blue Hens at bay.
• Saint Joseph’s (2-1) got off to a good start as Fable and Levi Anderson tallied in the first quarter to give the Hawks a 2-0 lead after one.
• The second quarter was all Delaware, as the Blue Hens, ranked 20th in the latest Inside Lacrosse poll, ripped off four consecutive goals in the first 3:53 of the period to take a 4-2 lead. The teams would trade goals over the rest of the frame, with Austin Strazzulla and Matt Bohmer tallying for the Hawks to send the game into halftime with UD on top, 6-4.
• Andrew Chilson brought the Hawks within one with his first goal of the season two and a half minutes into the third, but UD’s Matt DeLuca denied Anderson on two consecutive attempts to tie the game minutes later. After another Blue Hen tally restored the two-goal margin, Fable netted his second of the day to make it 7-6 with 10:04 to go in the quarter. Charlie Kitchen (St. Augustine Prep) would go on to score for Delaware to push the visitors’ advantage to 8-6 heading into the pivotal fourth quarter.
BEHIND THE BOX SCORE
• Adler made 18 saves on the day, two shy of his career best. He totaled six in the second half as the Hawks clamped down on the Blue Hens defensively. Tyler Makar and Josh Bosher held the potent UD scoring combination of Kitchen and Mike Robinson to three goals on 20 shots, while Adler made eight stops on the pair.
• Fable’s hat trick led the way, while Bohmer and Hare netted two goals apiece. Evan Campbell and Matt Tufano each handed out two assists on the day.
• The Hawks made their comeback against one of the nation’s top defenses, which had conceded just nine goals over its opening two games, led by DeLuca, who was named to the Inside Lacrosse Preseason All-America First Team.
• Cole was 14-of-22 on faceoffs, including a game-changing 10-of-11 in the second half. He also scooped up a game-high 11 ground balls; Cole entered the day as the nation’s leader in ground balls per game.
• The Hawks cashed in two of their five man-up opportunities, while the Blue Hens went 2-for-3, with all three opportunities coming in the second quarter.
