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St. Joe’s wins its first A-10 men’s lacrosse title; Villanova men, Drexel women fall in conference finals

On the women's side, Drexel narrowly lost to top-seeded Stony Brook in the CAA championship finale.

Villanova was on the brink of capturing the Big East lacrosse title, but a late goal from Georgetown put the Hawks on the latter end of an 11-10 final in overtime.
Villanova was on the brink of capturing the Big East lacrosse title, but a late goal from Georgetown put the Hawks on the latter end of an 11-10 final in overtime.Read moreDEENA GHAZZI

Saturday was a massive final day of lacrosse, which saw a number of Big 5 teams battle it out for conference titles.

St. Joseph’s proved why it deserved to be a top seed in the Atlantic 10 tournament by winning the whole thing with a 17-13 victory against Richmond in Amherst, Mass. It was the Hawks’ first A-10 men’s title and secured an automatic bid for the NCAA Division I tournament.

The Hawks (12-3) were led by a seven-goal performance from forward Levi Anderson, including four goals in the final four minutes. He was named the Most Outstanding Player of the tournament. The final result was a flip of last season in which St. Joe’s captured the regular season title but was ousted in the A-10 tournament, which Richmond won. The victory was the Hawks’ 11th straight dating back to mid-March.

Richmond (10-6) was paced by a hat trick from Lukas Olsson.

It was a productive tournament for the Hawks, who had five players named to the 12-man all-tournament team. The Hawks will learn their first-round NCAA Tournament opponent during Sunday’s Selection Show (9 p.m., ESPN2).

Villanova can’t bypass No. 2 Georgetown

Villanova came close to being the second Big 5 team celebrating a title, but found itself on the wrong end of an 11-10 overtime final against Georgetown at Villanova Stadium on Saturday.

The No. 4 seeded Wildcats (9-7) battled it out with the second-seeded Hoyas, pushing the game into OT deadlocked at 10-10. The Wildcats were paced by a pair of goals each by junior attack Dan Martin and freshman midfielder Nicholas Lucchesi. Lucchesi, from Radnor High, also led the way with six shots on goal.

Eight Villanova players scored in the back-and-forth affair. In the end, a goal by Georgetown’s Patrick Crogan with 1 minute, 20 seconds remaining sealed the automatic NCAA bid for the Hoyas (12.-3).

Drexel women fall to No. 1 Stony Brook

The second-seeded Dragons, who routed No. 3 seed Hofstra 18-9 on Thursday in their Coastal Athletic Association tournament semifinal, lost 9-6 to top-seeded Stony Brook on Saturday at the Seawolves’ home field.

The Dragons (13-5) had a tall task ahead of them entering the championship game, as Stony Brook (17-2) boasts the eighth-best scoring offense in the nation.

Although Stony Brook outshot Drexel, 39-15, the Dragons were able to hold the Seawolves to fewer than 10 goals for just the second time this season, thanks to stellar play by goalie Jenika Cuocco. Drexel was up by 3-2 at half, but six straight goals from Stony Brook in the second half secured the Seawolves their second straight CAA title and 11th straight NCAA Tournament berth.

Cuocco was joined by two teammates, graduate student attacker/midfielder Corinne Bednarik and junior defender Camryn Ryan, on the all-tournament team. Drexel is still in play for an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament, so the Dragons will learn their posteseason fate on the selection show.