HPU Men’s Lacrosse Beats Saint Joseph’s In Home Opener

HIGH POINT, N.C. – The High Point University men’s lacrosse team earned its first win of the 2014 season with a 9-7 victory over Saint Joseph’s on Sunday at Vert Stadium in High Point, N.C. Redshirt-senior Bucky Smith scored four goals with one assist in the win.

“The guys played really hard today,” said head coach Jon Torpey. “We won the 50/50 battles and were able to set up our offense. We moved the ball well and played unselfish which led to balanced scoring. The defense played with poise and limited scoring opportunities for Saint Joseph’s.”

The Panthers scored five goals to open the second quarter and build a lead they never relinquished. Smith led the way with four points, scoring three goals on three shots with one assist. Sophomore Dan Lomas added two goals and one assist and sophomore Matt Thistle contributed one goal and two assists.

Redshirt-junior Austin Geisler played all 60 minutes in the cage, making 12 saves with three ground balls. Junior Chris Davila went 9-of-16 on faceoffs with seven ground balls.

Michael Rastivo scored three goals to lead the Hawks while Ryan McGee added two goals and one assist. TJ Jones made nine saves with four ground balls for SJU.

McGee scored the only goal in the first quarter to give Saint Joseph’s the early 1-0 lead. In the second quarter HPU scored five-straight goals to open up a 5-1 lead midway through the period. Brad James picked up a lose ball in front of the SJU goal and dished the ball to Mitchell Dupere who scored the first goal with 11:49 on the clock. Smith followed with his first of two unassisted goals in the period and Lomas and freshman Michael LeClair also scored.

Saint Joseph’s cut the lead to two goals in the fourth quarter, 8-6, when Rastivo scored his second goal of the day with 13:50 to play. Neither team scored again until there was less than a minute remaining in the game. Joseph Taulane passed the ball ahead to Zack Price on a clear attempt and Price found the back of the net for his first goal of the season. Rastivo scored again with seven seconds left in the game to make the final score 9-7.

High Point had 26 ground balls in the game while Saint Joseph’s picked up 20. HPU went 14-of-16 on clear attempts and SJU was 16-of-18. Each team won nine of the 18 face-offs with HPU going 6-of-7 in the second quarter.

Redshirt-senior Garrett Swaim and redshirt-sophomore Nick Bittner each had two caused turnovers in the win.

High Point (1-2) will go back on the road to face Sacred Heart on Feb. 22 in Fairfield, Conn.