Philadelphia, Pa. (April 30, 2015) – Competing in the Northeast Conference Semifinals for the first time since 2012, the fourth-seeded Mount St. Mary's University men's lacrosse team could not overcome strong second and third quarters by top-seeded Saint Joseph's in a 10-4 loss at Sweeney Field on Thursday afternoon. NEC All-Rookie Team member Matt Vierheller (Forest Hill, Md.) made 12 saves between the pipes for the Mount.

Four different players scored goals for the Mount, which concludes the season with a 5-10 overall record. For Saint Joseph's (11-5), Mike Rastivo netted five goals as the Hawks outscored the Mount by a 9-2 margin over the second and third quarters to pull away. Saint Joseph's advances to the NEC Championship Game on May 2 to face the winner of Hobart versus Bryant.

"We knew we had to play 60 minutes against a really good Saint Joseph's team," Mount St. Mary's Head Coach Tom Gravante said. "We started out pretty strong, but we had some highs and lows. Unfortunately when you have lows and make mistakes, a good team is going to make you pay and that's exactly what happened."

After Saint Joseph's opened the scoring 5:49 into the game on the first of Chris Blewitt's two goals, the Mount needed just 13 seconds to respond to level the score at 1-1. The Hawks won the face-off after the first goal, but Brent Tsang (Mercer Island, Wash.) swooped in and caused a turnover from the wing. Mark Hojnoski (West Springfield, Mass.) scooped up the ground ball and quickly found freshman Mike Moynihan (West Islip, N.Y.), who canned a shot from in front of the crease.

The score would remain tied at 1-1 for the next 19 minutes spanning into the second quarter when the Hawks rattled off four goals in a span of just over 2:30 to seize control of the game at 5-1. Ray Vandegrift began the run with an unassisted goal, and Rastivo followed with a natural hat trick.

As the first-half clock was running down, Justin Gosnell (Aberdeen, Md.) worked his hands free and fired a shot from in front of the cage, but Saint Joseph's goalkeeper T.J. Jones made one of his 12 saves to keep the score at 5-1 heading into the half.

Following the halftime intermission, Saint Joseph's continued to apply the pressure with five goals in the opening seven minutes of the third quarter for a commanding 10-1 advantage.

The Mount was able to break through and get back on the scoreboard when Robert Jones (Riva, Md.) fired high to the left hand corner of the net off a Gosnell feed on the extra-man opportunity with 5:05 showing on the third-quarter clock to cut the deficit to 10-2.

Less than two minutes later, Hojnoski scored after Ryan Lamon (Severna Park, Md.) set him up on the doorstep with a perfect pass to bring the Mount within seven at 10-3.

The Mount's final goal, which trimmed Saint Joseph's advantage to 10-4, came with 12:17 left in the game. After forcing the Hawks into a turnover on the clear attempt, Bubba Johnson (Wyoming, Del.) fed Gosnell, who found the back of the net.

Bouncing back after winning 2-of-8 first-half face-offs, senior Nick Haley (Ferndale, Md.) dominated the X in the final 30 minutes by winning 8-of-10 in the second half. Haley also secured a game-high six ground balls for the Mountaineers.

Saint Joseph's held a 31-22 edge on ground balls and outshot the Mount, 37-31.

For their play in the game, Vierheller and Nick Firman (Fayetteville, N.Y.) earned All-Tournament accolades. 

"Unfortunately today's game didn't go in our favor, but we're really proud of our young men, especially our seniors," Gravante added. "They were able to change the culture of the team and lead us back into being a playoff team. We're very grateful for that."

GAME NOTES: Mount St. Mary's was making its third appearance in the Northeast Conference Tournament… The Mount won the NEC Tournament in 2011 and qualified for the NEC Semifinals in 2012… Mount St. Mary's falls to 13-7 in the all-time series versus Saint Joseph's. 

-- Mount St. Mary's University Athletics --