PHILADELPHIA – The Saint Joseph's men's lacrosse team clawed back in the fourth quarter of the Atlantic 10 Championship semifinal on Thursday afternoon, but the distance proved too much to overcome as High Point earned a spot in the title game with a 14-9 win on Sweeney Field
 
St. Joe's ends its season at 9-6 on the year after the A-10 semifinal exit. High Point improves to 7-8, meeting #10 Richmond in the Atlantic 10 Championship on Saturday afternoon.
 
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• High Point opened with four of the first five goals before Ben Dutton's first tally of the day halved the Hawk deficit to 4-2 entering the second quarter.
• The Hawks trailed by three before three-consecutive goals helped bring St. Jpe's level at 5-5. Trae Ika finished off a quick transition opportunity before Dutton added his second of the game only a minute later.
• Dutton secured his hat trick with under four minutes to play before a quick response from High Point put the visitors ahead 6-5 headed into the halftime break.
• The Panthers kept the momentum after three goals in the first four minutes of the second half to secure a 4-0 run as the Panthers led 9-5 early in the third quarter.
• Braedon Chayes' postage-stamp goal from distance only temporarily stopped the run, High Point tallying two goals in the final 2:11 of the third quarter to take an 11-6 lead into the final frame.
• The Hawks looked to make a rally in the fourth quarter, opening the door to a comeback after goals from Dutton and Tyler Moore in the opening minutes drew St. Joe's within three scores.
• Dutton tallied his fifth game of the season with at least five goals, netting with 8:27 to play to cut the deficit to 11-9.
• Despite the rally, the visitors shut the door with the final three goals to seal the victory and claim a spot in the Atlantic 10 Championship game on Saturday.

 
 
GAME NOTES

• Tommy Gross recorded 41 saves in his last two games, backing a career-high 23 saves in the regular-season finale with an 18-save performance in the defeat. The junior added four ground balls on the day. Gross finished the season with 164 saves on a .569 save percentage, allowing just 9.15 GAA between the cage.
• Levi Verch recorded one caused turnover while tying a career-high with nine ground balls. The standout defenseman ends his season with 28 caused turnovers, two shy of the program record and one away from his career-high set in 2024. Verch added 84 ground balls, one of the nation's leaders among non-faceoff specialists. The Victoria, British Columbia native ranks third in program history with 69 career caused turnovers and became one of seven Hawks to register 200 ground balls in a career.
• Ben Dutton led the Hawk attack with five goals and six points on the afternoon. The freshman finished with 47 goals and 55 points this season, both setting rookie records at St. Joe's. The Denver, Colo. native finished tied for second-most in goals scored in a single-season by a Hawk, only Carter Page's 2022 tally of 52 goals besting the freshman.
• Griffin Mallory finished as the only other Hawk to record multiple points, registering a pair of assists. Five Hawks recorded a point in the defeat.
• High Point posted an advantage in shots (46-35), shots on goal (32-21), ground balls (40-28) and face-off wins (22-5).
• The Hawks cleared on 19-of-21 attempts while limiting the Panthers to just 18-24.