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Alphabetical 2013 NCAA D1 Preview: Saint Joseph’s

We’re breaking down each and every NCAA D1 team one by one to get prepped for the rapidly approaching season. Welcome back to the Alphabetical 2013 NCAA D1 Previews! We move another spot down the list and the Saint Joseph’s Hawks, located in Philadelphia, PA, are up for Preview!

2012 saw the Hawks go 6-9 in Taylor Wray’s first season as the Head Coach, which was a marked improvement over their 0-12 2011 record, under Pat Cullinan. The year started off tough with games against Lehigh and Brant, but St. Joe’s turned it around, beating VMI and Wagner before falling to Drexel and Brown. A win over Quinnipiac was followed by a string of losses to Penn State, UMass, Hofstra, Delaware, and Penn. St. Joe’s finished the season with three wins over Mercer, Marist and Towson.

2013 sees the Hawks take on a similar schedule, but they also play High Point, Marquette, and Michigan, and all of those games could potentially turn into wins. Any of their games against Lehigh, Drexel, Penn State, Hofstra, or UMass could serve as breakout wins.

You know the deal by now… if D1 Athletic Departmens don’t put up video, we use stuff from other schools, and it’s never pretty for the team being discussed:

Ryan McGhee, Kyle Williams, Michael Dougherty, and Johnny Simanski all return on offense for St. Joe’s. These guys bring back some solid scoring and experience, but will need for younger players to step up immediately. At attack, St. Joe’s has 12 guys on the roster so they do have some depth. The midfield is where the Hawks could struggle for depth, as they also have 12 guys playing that position.

Griffin Ferrigan is gone in goal, and Dustin Keen only saw 45 minutes of time last year. The Hawks have three more goalies in Pat Kurowski, Chris Moffa, Stone Wharton, on their roster. Kevin Barrow and Ted Hospodar return with some experience on D, but that group will also need to see an overhaul, and new faces. Both Will Abbot and Billy Annesley return to take face offs, but neither went over 47% last year.

Overall, St. Joe’s took a huge step forward last year under Taylor Wray, and they should continue to press and compete in 2013. However, judging by all the talent they lost, it might not be another year of even more wins. Most teams shoot to go from 0-12 to 6-9 in three or four years, so St. Joseph’s has already done something impressive. Staying there in 2013, while replacing a lot of key players, is a great goal if the Hawks want to stay on the rise.

Click HERE to see Alphabetical 2013 NCAA D1 Preview posts for Air Force, Albany, Army, Bellarmine, Binghamton, Brown, Bryant, Bucknell, Canisius, Colgate, Cornell, Dartmouth, Denver, Detroit, Drexel, Duke, Fairfield, Hartford, Harvard, High Point, Hobart, Hofstra, Holy Cross, Jacksonville, Johns Hopkins, Lafayette, Lehigh, Loyola, Manhattan, Marist, Marquette, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mercer, Michigan, Mount St. Mary’s, Navy, UNC, Notre Dame, Ohio State, UPenn, Penn State, Princeton, Providence, Quinnipiac, Robert Morris, Rutgers, and Sacred Heart!