Hawks Swoop on Blue Hens, 11-8

A sunny Tuesday afternoon witnessed the 2020 home opener for the 2-1 St. Joe’s Hawks Men’s Lacrosse Team.
The Delaware Blue Hens (2-1) provided the opposition in a game full of subplots. Could the Hawks counter the stout Defense who had only surrendered 9 goals in their first two contests? Would St.Joe’s rebound from the loss to Penn State?
Finally, who would get the better of the face-off battle? Jake Hervada of Delaware or phenom, Zach Cole?

The Hawks started off impressively enough and shut the door on the Hens offense while cashing in with a man-up Levi Anderson (1g,1a) marker at 3:25 followed just a minute and eight seconds later with Shayne Fable netting his first of three.
The second stanza saw the clubs really pick up the pace, especially the visitors who reeled off 6 of the 8 goals in the quarter.

A four-goal run started the outburst with Bryce Reid (1g), Clay Miller setting up Tye Kurtz (1g,2a) on the man advantage, Charlie Kitchen (2g) and a familiar name, Jake Govett (1g) to push Delaware to a 4-2 advantage. Austin Strazzula (1g) stopped the uprising to get the Hawks with one before Kurtz sent a nifty pass to Mike Robinson (1g,1) to counter for UD.

Just :40 later, Matt Bohmer (2g) converted an Evan Campbell lead pass to keep the battle raging with a 5-4 score.
Clay Miller (2g,1a) brought the curtain down on the half with Delaware in the driver’s seat, 6-4. St.Joe’s, Andrew Chilson (1g) nailed his first at the 12:39 mark before Clay Miller and Shayne Fable exchanged goals just thirty-seven seconds apart. The defenses took over with a scoreless 7:25 run before UD’s Charlie Kitchen ended the third with Delaware clinging to the two-goal edge, 8-6. Zach Cole and Mike Adler took center stage for the Hawks with Adler pitching a shutout and Cole going 6 for 6 from the “X” to jumpstart a five-goal uprising. It started just :52 in when Bohmer cashed a Levi Anderson pass to make it 8-7.
Cole won the draw and the Hawks wasted little time getting it knotted up with Liam Hare (2g) besting UD goalkeeper, Matt DeLuca off the Cole set up.

Shayne Fable went back to work with help from Evan Campbell to put the home team in the lead, 9-8. Fifty-one seconds later Matt Tufano (2a) worked the ball to Ryan Kemp (1g) on the advantage and the Hawks were soaring. Tufano with a sweet assist for another Hare goal and the Hawks needed to hang on for the final 6:09 to wrest the upset.

Dis and Dat: Cole was outstanding, 6for 6 in the fourth, 10 of 11 for the second half and 14 for 22 for the game.
Throw in the assist and a game-high 10 loose balls. Cole leads the nation in that category.
Shots on goal favored Delaware 42-32 but, Mike Adler stopped 18 shots which are two shy of his personal best.
Man ups revealed Delaware posting 2 of 3 while the Hawks went 2 for 5.
Jake Govett is the son of former Philadelphia Wing and current head honcho of the NLL San Diego Seals, Steve Govett.

Coach Taylor Wray had this to say postgame, (Courtesy of St. Joseph’s University):

“What a huge team win today!” said head coach Taylor Wray following the victory. “We talked on Saturday, after a dismal performance at Penn State, about being accountable and doing your job. I thought our guys did that tonight, and I thought our scout team did it on a short two days of preparation.”
Coach Taylor Wray (Courtesy of St. Joseph’s University).

“Tyler Makar was terrific defending an All-American attackman in Charlie Kitchen. Liam Hare scored two huge goals for us. Josh Bosherdid a great job covering their lefty scorer Mike Robinson. And Mike Adler was absolutely sensational in net; 18 saves and many of them in dramatic fashion. Our leaders stepped up and our role players did their jobs.”
Coach Taylor Wray had this to say postgame, (Courtesy of St. Joseph’s University).

“Zach Cole got off to a bit of a slower start, then won some ground balls in the middle, and then turned it on and completely dominated the second half. That gave us a tremendous boost and allowed us to build momentum.”
Coach Taylor Wray had this to say postgame, (Courtesy of St. Joseph’s University).

“We made great shot decision offensively against one of the best goalkeepers in the country, and when we had chances, we put them away. I am incredibly proud of my team.”
Coach Taylor Wray had this to say postgame, (Courtesy of St. Joseph’s University).

Kevin Neibauer

Kevin has followed and promoted the game of lacrosse since May 19, 1974.
The same day the Philadelphia Flyers won the Cup, the Philadelphia Wings were introduced to Neibauer and Philadelphia.

Kevin has covered many sports, including baseball, football, basketball, and.. lacrosse. A former licensed football referee and baseball umpire, Kevin brings a unique insight to his game coverage.

A published writer in JustHockey Magazine, Kevin covered the American Hockey League as well as a monthly story on a pugilist where Kevin used the pen name, The Rink Rat. Neibauer turned his attentions to lacrosse for a few years and does his part, whether podcasting or writing to grow the game. Kevin branched out to his roots and currently provides insight for all Philadelphia teams for Edge of Philly as well as his full-time duties with LaxPhilly.