FAIRFIELD, Conn. – Needing a win to secure a berth in the Northeast Conference Tournament, the Sacred Heart men's lacrosse team fell to the Saint Joseph's Hawks 13-8 at Campus Field Saturday on Senior Day.

Entering the day, the Pioneers needed either a win or a Mount St. Mary's loss to clinch the fourth and final spot in next weekend's tournament. The Mountaineers defeated the Statesmen 10-8 earlier in the day, which led to Sacred Heart needing to beat the Hawks to reach the NEC Tournament.

Saint Joseph's (10-5, 6-0 NEC) got off to a fast start, getting goals from Mike Rastivo and Pat Swanick in the first two minutes to take a 2-0 lead. Sacred Heart (6-7, 2-4 NEC) got on the scoreboard with 9:16 remaining in the first quarter when Brian Masi (Smithtown, N.Y.) assisted on a goal by Reed Avveduti (Niskayuna, N.Y.). Rastivo and Mike Dougherty then scored 1:43 apart to give the Hawks a 4-1 lead with 5:02 left in the first quarter.

The Hawks capped off a four-goal run with two goals to start the second quarter. Ray Vandegrift capped the run with a tally at the 8:18 mark of the period, putting Saint Joseph's ahead 6-1. The Pioneers got back on the board with 5:38 remaining in the half on a man-up goal by Matt Posch (Brookhaven, N.Y.), assisted by Alex Dodge (Smithtown, N.Y.) who had three in the game. Saint Joseph's took a 7-2 halftime lead on a Chris Blewitt goal with 5:04 to play in the second quarter.

Masi opened the scoring in the third quarter, firing home a Dodge pass to make the score 7-3 with 12:53 to play in the period. The Hawks responded with goals by Rastivo and Robert Raucci 27 seconds apart to take a 9-3 lead with 7:31 left in the third. Sacred Heart then scored two goals in a row to get within four, 9-5. Julian Garritano (Markham, Ont.) scored at the 5:53 mark, followed by a Jerome Rigor (Pleasanton, Calif.) goal with 2:26 left in the quarter.

The two teams then traded goals, as Masi's second of the game with 13:54 remaining made the score 10-6. The Hawks got back-to-back goals from Rastivo and Swanick to take a 12-6 lead with 7:40 to go. Thirty-five seconds later, Garritano scored his second goal of the game to make the score 12-7. After Blewitt scored with 5:54 to play, freshman TJ Fitzell (South Hadley, Mass.) scored 41 seconds later to make the score 13-8. That would be as close as the Pioneers would get.

Masi had a team-high four points on two goals and two assists. Rastivo scored five goals for Saint Joseph's and added an assist. Ryan McGee had a game-high four assists for the Hawks. The Hawks outshot Sacred Heart 36-29, and held a 25-24 edge in groundballs. Jon Flood (Bay Shore, N.Y.) made nine saves for Sacred Heart while T.J. Jones had five for Saint Joseph's.

Sacred Heart ends the 2015 season with a record of 6-7, going 2-4 in the NEC.