PHILADELPHIA – The Saint Joseph's men's lacrosse team enjoyed a busy weekend as the Hawks hosted a community night and inter-squad scrimmage on Friday evening, participated in the Kinney Center Run/Walk for Austim on Saturday morning, and celebrated last season's individual and team accomplishments with the 2014 Team Awards Banquet on Sunday evening.
On Friday evening, Saint Joseph's coaching staff and players spent an hour with 65 local youth participants at SJU's free clinic on Sweeney Field. This experience proved to be a fun and exciting opportunity to meet and interact with the Saint Joseph's University coaches and players. Following the clinic, the Hawks competed in the Crimson and Gray inter-squad scrimmage as fans were able to get the first glimpse of the newest installment of the SJU men's lacrosse team.
Less than 10 hours later, the Hawks participated in the Kinney Center Run/Walk for Austim, where the men's lacrosse squad raised the most money of any student organization.
On Sunday evening, Saint Joseph's had its 2014 Team Awards Banquet and honored last season's team. The Hawks also welcomed their 17 new families to the program.
Reigning Northeast Conference Offensive Player of the Year Ryan McGee highlighted the awards section as the standout was selected both the Outstanding Offensive Performer and overall Outstanding Performer. Northeast Conference First-Team selection Will Farrell was tabbed the Outstanding Defensive Performer.
A pair of Northeast Conference All-Rookie selections in goalkeeper T.J. Jones and attackman Mike Rastivo shared Rookie of the Year honors while recent graduate Johnny Simanski ('14) was named the squad's Most Improved Player.
Jack Moran and Rob Watts received the Dorie Leahy Award, presented to student-athletes for dedication and loyalty to their teams, while Joe McErlean earned the Raymond Vasquez Award for exemplifying the Jesuit values of being a person for others.
For the second consecutive year, both Kevin Barrow was tabbed the team's Scholar-Athlete Award recipient and Dylan O'Donnell received the Academic Award. Danny Manning was presented with the Ultimate Warrior Award while Kyle Bruun earned the Head, Heart, and Hustle Award.
The Hawks also celebrated their numerous team accomplishments, as 2014 was a milestone season for the Saint Joseph's men's lacrosse program. In Northeast Conference action alone, the Hawks claimed the NEC regular-season title and produced the NEC Coach and Offensive Player of the Year, eight All-NEC selections, four All-NEC rookie selection, and 11 NEC weekly award winners. The Hawks earned the program's first win over a nationally-ranked opponent in #11/12 Bryant in league play and received the NEC Team Sportsmanship Award at the conclusion of the season.
Saint Joseph's posted an 11-4 record as the program produced its first winning season since 2000; its 11-3 regular-season record was the best in program history. SJU's 5-1 regular-season home record and 6-2 regular-season away record were the best winning percentages in program history in both categories, and the Hawks went an undefeated 5-0 record in April to become SJU's first team to win every game in April. The Hawks also earned their first program win over Delaware in 14 attempts.
Recognized on a national level, SJU earned Top 20 rankings in the Lacrosse Magazine Poll for two consecutive weeks and, for the first time in program history, “Received Votes” in the Top 20 in both the USILA Coaches Poll and Warrior Media Poll.
Saint Joseph's concluded the 2014 season ranked in the top 21 of eight national categories and earned the title of the 2014 national leader in Extra-Man Defense (79.3%), an improvement from a 38th-place ranking in 2013 (63.8%). The Hawks also ranked sixth in scoring defense, ninth in win percentage, 11th in scoring margin, 12th in caused turnovers, 14th in save percentage, 20th in scoring offense, and 21st in shooting percentage.
