PHILADELPHIA – Despite a career performance from Saint Joseph's junior goalkeeper Tommy Gross with 23 saves, the Saint Joseph's men's lacrosse team fell in a 10-7 defeat to #10 Richmond on Friday evening.
 
St. Joe's ends the regular season at 9-5 on the season and 2-3 in the Atlantic 10. Richmond secured its first Atlantic 10 regular season championship with a 5-0 record in conference play, moving to 11-3 on the year.
 
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• After the visitors opened the scoring five minutes into the game, the Hawks struck twice in a span of 1:06 to take the lead. Richie LaCalandra forced an error on the Richmond clear before feeding Trae Ika for the opening goal. Mark Watters rifled an effort from distance after a dish from Jesse Jason to give the Hawks a 2-1 advantage.
• The Spiders scored the final two goals of the quarter to start a 4-0 run on the other side of the break before Michael Gaughan went on his own to end the drought.
• The teams traded goals over the final nine minutes of the frame as Ben Dutton closed the door on the half with a strike with eight seconds remaining on the clock to cut the Richmond lead to 7-5.
• Jack McGorry and Ika each scored in the third quarter to cut the deficit to one, but the visitors answered each goal with a response to take a two-goal advantage into the final 15 minutes.
• The lone goal of the quarter came in favor of the Spiders as the Hawks were unable to chip away at the deficit to fall in a 10-7 contest.

 
 
GAME NOTES

• Tommy Gross' 23 saves mark the second-most saves in a single game in the 21^st century, only Dan Morrissey's 28 saves against Delaware in 2004 besting Gross' effort since 2000. Gross registered a .697 save percentage in the defeat while recording five ground balls.
• Dutton added a goal to his season tally, sitting in a tie for seventh-most in single-season history with 42 goals on the season.
• Trae Ika was the lone Hawk to register multiple points with his pair of goals.
• Michael Gaughan and Levi Quinn each finished with two caused turnovers to pace the defense.
• The Hawks limited Richmond to just 13-18 in clear attempts, but the Spiders dominated with a 58-20 advantage in shots and a 41-18 advantage in ground balls.

 
 
UP NEXT
The Hawks return to Sweeney Field as hosts of the Atlantic 10 Tournament, beginning on Thursday, May 1. St. Joe's awaits the result of the final game of the regular season between High Point and St. Bonaventure to determine seeding, but have qualified as part of the four-team field.