May 3, 2007

PHILADELPHIA - The SJU men's lacrosse team has been preparing all week for this weekend's match-up with Canisius. Working practices in around exam schedules and studying, the Hawks are dedicated to beating the Golden Griffins on Friday and advancing to the MAAC title game on Sunday. In their three previous appearances in MAAC post-season play, the Hawks have gone 3-2, winning the Championship in 2000 and finishing second in 2003.

"We are extremely thrilled and excited to be competing this weekend in the MAAC Championship Tournament," Head Coach Pat Cullinan said. "It's an honor for our program to be able to have this opportunity to compete."

When asked how he feels about facing #2 seed Canisius, Cullinan acknowledged that the Golden Griffins present some problems for any team they face. "They've got the leading point man in the conference in addition to the third leading goal scorer," Cullinan said. "So, offensively, they're very talented. They're a team that we're going to have to play with control and patience in the way we defend those players. They're pretty explosive."

Kevin Ross, a senior attacker for the Golden Griffins, leads the league in points per game (4.00), ranking sixth in the country. Ross is also second in the MAAC, seventh nationally, in goals per game (2.69) while placing fourth in the conference in assists per game (1.31).

Michael Blocho is another scoring threat for Canisius. The junior attacker is third in goals per game (2.31) in the MAAC and sixth in points per game (2.62).

Another challenge for the Hawks will be Tim Rowley. Rowley is first in the league in groundballs per game (5.55) and second in faceoff percentage (.495). Nationally, these numbers place him ninth and 13th respectively.

"Rowley's had a very good freshman year," Cullinan said. "He's one of the leading faceoff men in the conference and when you control the faceoffs, you're obviously controlling the possession time as well. In that first meeting, he dominated us in that category and it resulted in the obvious lack of offensive opportunities for us."

Though the teams have never met in the postseason, Saint Joseph's holds an 8-3 lead in the all-time series, with Canisius winning the most recent match-up this season, 15-9, on its home field. In that game, Steve Varga scored three goals and added an assist for the Hawks. Alex Lopes, Steve O'Brien and Mike O'Neill also had multi-point games. For Canisius, Blocho scored five goals and one assist, while Ross notched three goals and two assists. Though tied at 16 clears apiece, Canisius controlled the face-offs 19-7. Shots and groundballs were also evenly matched, meaning if the Hawks can dig out a higher number in the circle, they could take possession of the game.

The last time out, Canisius lost its second consecutive game by losing 13-6 at Manhattan in the regular-season finale for the Golden Griffins. Six different players tallied a goal for Canisius, who dropped to 1-7 on the road. Kevin Ross didn't have a goal for the first time since April 7, 2005, which ended his goal streak and his multiple-point streak at 34 games.

SJU split its last two games of the regular season, beating Wagner 11-3 at home in the last conference game and then falling to Penn State, 12-9, on the road. In the win over Wagner, seven different Hawks contributed goals, including four-point games from Chris O'Neill and Lopes. At Penn State, O'Brien tallied three goals and two assists while six other Hawks added to the final tally.

The Hawks have six players with double-digit points as Mike O'Neill leads the team in points (28) and assists (17). Varga leads SJU with 20 goals. Overall, the Hawks rank seventh in goals per game (6.75), fifth in goals against average (10.97), sixth in penalty killing percentage (70.4) and ninth in faceoff percentage (34.3) in the league. Saint Joseph's ranks 29th nationally in man-down defense. Tom Wengenosky has 27 groundballs this season, while RJ Bopf and Erik Hotaling recorded 29 and 24 respectively.

Hotaling started the first nine games of the season between the pipes for Saint Joseph's before being sidelined due to injury. In that time, Hotaling earned an 11.30 goals against average and a save percentage of .534, while going 4-0 in conference play. Despite missing the second half of the season, the sophomore goalkeeper still ranks sixth in the conference in goals against average, fifth in save percentage, and second in saves per game (13.00 avg).

RJ Bopf anchored the Hawk defense the last seven games of the regular season. Bopf earned a 10.12 goals against average in those seven starts, along with a .458 save percentage. The sophomore goalkeeper made 13 saves against Penn State and two in the win over Wagner, playing 45:15 before Chase Stewart clocked in to finish out the game.

Saint Joseph's and Canisius take the field Friday, May 4th in Emmitsburg, MD. Opening faceoff is set for 4:00 pm for the semifinal match-up.