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The Saint Joseph’s Hawks are the 13th team in our 2020 men’s college lacrosse schedule preview series and the second team from the NEC. St. Joe’s finished 7-7 overall in 2019 and 3-3 in NEC play. The Hawks failed to qualify for the NEC Tournament on the last day of the regular season in a loss to Mount St. Mary’s.
Here’s their entire 2020 schedule:
Saint Joseph’s 2020 Schedule
| Date | Road Team | Home Team | Special Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Date | Road Team | Home Team | Special Notes |
| 1/25 | Saint Joseph's | Army West Point | Scrimmage |
| 2/1 | Saint Joseph's | Lehigh | Scrimmage |
| 2/8 | Saint Joseph's | St. Bonaventure | |
| 2/15 | Saint Joseph's | Penn State | First meeting since 2013 |
| 2/18 | Delaware | Saint Joseph's | |
| 2/23 | Providence | Saint Joseph's | |
| 2/29 | Saint Joseph's | Monmouth | |
| 3/6 | Saint Joseph's | Drexel | Philly 4 Lacrosse Classic (At Franklin Field) |
| 3/8 | Penn | Saint Joseph's | Philly 4 Lacrosse Classic |
| 3/14 | Saint Joseph's | Bryant | NEC |
| 3/21 | Saint Joseph's | Merrimack | NEC, First ever meeting |
| 3/28 | Mount St. Mary's | Saint Joseph's | NEC |
| 4/4 | Saint Joseph's | Robert Morris | NEC |
| 4/11 | Sacred Heart | Saint Joseph's | NEC |
| 4/18 | Saint Joseph's | NJIT | NEC |
| 4/25 | LIU | Saint Joseph's | NEC, First ever meeting |
Who’s In?
- Penn State Nittany Lions (2/15)
- Merrimack Warriors (3/21)
- LIU Sharks (4/25)
Who’s Out?
- Fairfield Stags (21-10 W)
- Hobart Statesmen (12-11 W/OT)
- Wagner Seahawks (14-6 W)
Saint Joseph’s Opponent’s 2019 Average Win Percentage & RPI
| Avg. overall win pct. | Avg. nonconference win pct. | Avg. conference win pct. | Avg. overall RPI | Avg. nonconference RPI | Avg. conference RPI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Avg. overall win pct. | Avg. nonconference win pct. | Avg. conference win pct. | Avg. overall RPI | Avg. nonconference RPI | Avg. conference RPI |
| .509 | .506 | .511 | 38.92 | 34.14 | 45.6 |
Circle These Dates
- 2/15 at Penn State: After beginning the regular season on the road against St. Bonaventure, the Hawks face former CAA rival Penn State for the first time since 2013, their last season in the conference. St. Joe’s has never defeated the Nittany Lions and will have a very tall task doing so this time around. Penn State should be a top two team going into the regular season and bring back a lethal offense that includes Grant Ament and Mac O’Keefe.
- 2/29 at Monmouth: A low-scoring game last season, St. Joe’s held on for an 8-6 victory over Monmouth on Hawk Hill in the battle of the hawks. Monmouth scored three straight to end the third quarter, but were stymied in the final frame thanks to six saves by Mike Adler. NEC Rookie of the Year Zach Cole didn’t have his best performance either, going 3-of-10 from the faceoff X.
- 3/6 vs. Drexel (at Franklin Field): St. Joe’s has only defeated Drexel twice in program history, the last coming in 2018. But despite their overall struggles, the Hawks and Dragons have had relatively close and competitive games since Taylor Wray’s first season as head coach in 2012. Drexel came back from a one-goal deficit in the final quarter to score four unanswered for the win in last year’s Philly 4 Lacrosse Classic.
- 3/28 vs. Mount St. Mary’s: All St. Joe’s needed to do last year was to beat the Mount and have things go in their favor, which it did. But they didn’t get the win and missed the NEC Tournament in a one-goal loss. This time, it was the opposing goalie shutting the door on the Hawks as Dylan Furnback recorded eight of his 20 total saves in the fourth quarter in Maryland.
- 4/25 vs. LIU: One of three new teams coming into the NEC, and St. Joe’s will face all of them. Unlike Merrimack, LIU is eligible for postseason tournaments. The move from Division II to Division I is difficult, but don’t be too surprised if somehow there’s a situation where the Hawks will need a win to get second place in the NEC West Division (consisting of LIU, Mount St. Mary’s, NJIT, Robert Morris, and St. Joe’s) or even the No. 5 seed in the new-look NEC Tournament.