D’Ambra named St. Joe’s men’s soccer head coach

The search for a new men’s soccer coach at Saint Joseph’s has ended with the return of one of the program’s highest profile alumni.

Don D’Ambra, a long-time star for the Philadelphia Kixx indoor soccer franchise and a 1994 graduate of St. Joe’s is returning to his roots to head up the team that helped catapult him into the pro ranks. He will be unveiled at a press conference on Monday. He’s just the fourth coach in St. Joe’s soccer history, replacing Tom Turner after 26 seasons at the helm.

D'Ambra, in Philadelphia Kixx attire, has been named the new St. Joe's head coach. (photo courtesy of SJU Athletic Communications)

D’Ambra was the face of the Kixx for 14 seasons, the last eight of which he served as a player/coach/vice president of soccer operations. He led the franchise to Major Indoor Soccer League (MISL) titles in 2002 and 2007, and one of most recognizable figures for one of indoor soccer’s most popular teams. He also served as Turner’s assistant here at St. Joe’s from 1996-99.

The 37-year-old native of Philadelphia collected 388 goals, 905 points, four All-Star selections, and 119 coaching wins with the Kixx, all franchise highs.

D’Ambra’s time at St. Joe’s was just as illustrious, as his name is on the top line of most statistical categories. He’s the all-time leader in points (102), goals (41), and shots (297). His 15 goals and 38 points in 1993 are the most ever in a single season for a Hawk, and he also holds the third most prolific season (13 goals and 31 points in 1992) in those categories.

He was honored as the 1993 Soccer Seven and Atlantic 10 Player of the Year for the winningest team in St. Joe’s history (12-6-1). D’Ambra was also inducted into the St. Joe’s Soccer Hall of Fame in 2000. He’s the second former Kixx player to join the Hawks’ current coaching staff, with former teammate Drew Kopp also an assistant on the women’s team.

– Matthew De George ’10

St. Joe’s vs. VCU LIVE Blog

8:50: Prim gets called on the foul, her third. VCU hits two free throws, which is answered by a Djouara layup. Patterson then misses both free throws. Kuester misses a three, and with that the game is over. Final score 74-63.

8:46: Kita Waller hits the dagger, a three to give VCU a 15 point lead. Prim hits a layup but it’s too little, too late. 73-60 VCU with 45 seconds left.

8:43:  Moss knocks down another two on free throws, and this game looks to be done.

8:37: On the next possession, Logue gets called for the offensive foul, and After two more from VCU, the Hawks get one on a Prim free throw. The Hawks then get another chance after a VCU foul, but Ford gets called on the travel. Prim then gets clotheslined on the next possession, Katie Kuester gets an obvious no call. I’m sorry, but this officiating is on par with today’s Villanova-Robert Morris game. I think I’ll quote Bill Simmons and modify it just a bit,  would Cindy Griffin be wrong for punching the ref at the end of this game?

Rhode Island ends St. Joe’s season with hard fought 87-76 win

There may not have been any points bigger in the last four years than Lamonte Ulmer’s 1,000th.

The senior forward’s historic tally came when his team needed it most, cleaning up a missed free throw and laying the ball in to push the lead back up to nine and all but clinch an 87-76 victory for the Rams over St. Joe’s. The win sets up a date between the Rhode Island and St. Louis on Friday in the A-10 Quarterfinals in Atlantic City and keeps their dreams of an NCAA berth alive.

“I’m disappointed in the result,” said St. Joe’s head coach Phil Martelli. “I’m happy for our players that they go the chance to experience postseason play, and really maximize the effort, and we still leave not good enough.”

St. Joe’s vs. Rhode Island LIVE game blog

10:29- That’s all for tonight as I brave the wilds of New England on the way home. Thanks for tuning in all, game story’s above. This is Matthew De George, signing out on his final St. Joe’s men’s basketball game. Have a good night

8:58- Crosgile misfires on a three, and the Rams run out the clock with an 87-76 win. Postgame recap and coverage in a bit…

8:57- Cothran hits one of two from the line, but Ulmer again cleans up the mess, earning a trip to the line. Cothran leads the Rams with 15 points tonight, all in the second half. Ulmer hits both, and the Rams are up 87-76 with 23 ticks left.

8:56- Govens lays up and in, and Prescott, in for Williamson, fouls Marquis Jones, who misses both.  Crosgile lays the ball in to cut the lead back down to eight, 84-76.

8:53- Hilliard commits his fourth foul on James, who makes one, but Govens turns the ball over, and Williamson picks up his fifth foul of the game, ending his college career. He finishes with eight points, 10 rebounds, and seven assists.

Ulmer misses one of two, and were it not for his put back earlier, this finish could be much different. The Rams are just 14-22 from the line, and have at least five of those misses down the stretch.

For more play-by-play, keep reading here…

St. Joe’s-La Salle LIVE game blog

5:52- And there he is!! Martelli calls time with 57.6 and inserts Brown for O’Brien, much to the delight of his sizable cheering section in the crowd. He manages a rebound, but misses the put back before Martelli calls timeout to get his two senior starters out for a standing ovation. The Hawks run out the clock, the ball in Brown’s hands, with a 74-59 win and a berth in the A-10 Tournament. Postgame comments momentarily.

5:50- Jones does it again with a stop-and-go move that gives him a lane to the hoop to stretch the lead to 16. Williams answers with a bucket, but Govens gets hacked by Mekongo, his fifth foul, and makes one of two to restore a 15-point spread. I hear chants of “WE WANT C.J.”!

5:49- La Salle commits its 12th turnover of the night as Giannini turns to his assistants and claps in resignation. Murray’s three-point attempt doesn’t help matters, and sends the normally boisterous coach to take a seat for one of the first instances all night.

5:46- Williamson hits two free throws out of the break, and Grant nearly strips Jones after Mekongo misses a three. But Jones instead heads to the line, and hits both to stretch the lead to 14, the biggest margin of the day, 71-57.

5:43-  JONES TO THE BUCKET! He hits a lay-in driving right to left, up and under a defender to move the margin to 10 at 67-57 with 4:09 to play. As Bill Raftery would say, “a little early onions from the youngster!”

He’s got 12 off the bench, one of four Hawks in double-figures today. The score stays that way into the final media timeout with 3:39 to play.

Also, in Amherst, the Rams hold a slim 50-47 lead. And the Explorers’ postseason hopes.

For more play by play, click here…

St. Joe’s vs. Duquesne LIVE Game Blog

3:53: Ford misses the free throw, but lays down a nasty block on the other end. The seniors get called off the court to cheers as the clock runs down, winning 69-56. The victory gives the Hawks the fifth seed in the Atlantic 10 tournament.

3:51: Pollino misses the 3, and after getting the rebound Logue is fouled by Pryor, shooting two. She misses the first, and makes the second, and on the other end Abel misses the shot to give the Hawks the ball. Ford gets the rebound and draws the foul, Pollino’s fifth of the game.

3:47: Ford gets called on a questionable offensive foul , but intercepts the pass on the other end. Djouara miss the layup to give the Dukes the ball. Pollino gets the layup to cut the lead to four. Shelby Smith then gets the layup to bring it back to six. Gensler misses the 3, and on the Hawk possession, the Hawks waste some clock and cap the drive with two points from Gillespie. the Hawks bring the lead back up to 8 with 1:06 left in the game.

3:45: Smith hits a quick layup, but Pryor counters on the other end. Coach Griffin calls a timeout to figure things out. Hawks up 62-56 with 3:10 left.

3:43:  3:46 left in the game, Hawks up 60-54 at an official timeout.

Turning a corner, but to where?

Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. They don’t mention what happens on instance number seven.

That’s the position many St. Joe’s fans are in now (thought the estimate of seven is very low) after falling into the oh-so-familiar trap of buying into the heightened expectations that a handful of consecutive wins creates.

The loss to UMass was especially tough to swallow, as will be most from here on out, because the win over Dayton gave everyone a tantalizing view of what the Hawks are capable of. Yes, last night’s effort was tempered by the fatigue of three games in five days, something largely out of the team’s control. But the loss still stings, and you can’t help but think that if the circumstances were different, the result might have been as well.

After the Penn game, I went though a checklist of things that needed to happen for the St. Joe’s streak to continue. Here’s the report card from UMass:

Minutemen dump tired Hawks, end three-game winning streak

A third game in just five days finally caught up with St. Joe’s, as they had their three-game winning streak stopped at the hand of UMass, 87-80.

Ricky Harris led all scorers with 23 points, and the Minutemen pulled away thanks to four second-half threes by Freddie Riley.

“[It’s] very disappointing,” St. Joe’s head coach Phil Martelli. “We disserve better because we had been playing better. We looked tired, and we thought tired. We didn’t fight through when we had chances in both halves. We worked our tails to get back and get the lead in the second half and we step off a known three-point shooter [Riley] for them to tie it.”

Garrett Williamson, ’10, led the way with an impressive line, highlighted by a double-double of 16 points and 10 assists. He also swiped six steals, three bocks, three rebounds, and no turnovers.

“We got a team like that and we were on the ropes with them, but we never got that knockout punch.” Williamson said. “We never really had that surge of stops and good possessions on offense that we’ve had these last few games.”

St. Joe’s-Towson men’s basketball live game blog

9:50- That’s it for tonight, as the Hawks escape the Hagan Arena with a hard-fought win. Join us on Saturday night at 6 p.m. from right here with all the action as the Hawks take on conference foe Dayton. Goodnight everybody!!

9:45- You’d hope it would be more comfortable for the Hawks, but in the end they were able to escape with a win tonight over Towson thanks to a strong second half. They outscored the Tigers 41-28 in the second stanza to reverse a six-point halftime deficit. The shooting effort was much better from St. Joe’s, who went 10-23 (43.5 percent) from the field, and five of 10 from three-point land. They also hit their free throws down the stretch, converting on 16 of their 19 trips to the charity stripe in the second half.

Idris Hilliard led the way for the Hawks with 20 points, 12 of which came in the second half. Justin Crosgile chipped in 13, the second straight game he has hit three threes, while Garrett Williamson, who played all 40 minutes, joined them in double-figures with 12. Darrin Govens managed nine points to go along with six assists despite a woeful shooting night (3-15 from the field, 2-10 from three), and Carl Jones had eight.

Todd O’Brien led the way on the boards, with 11 rebounds for a St. Joe’s team that held a 19-14 edge on the glass in the second half. St. Joe’s also committed a season-low tying eight turnovers.

“The players deserved to have something good happen to them because they really did a terrific job yesterday,” said Martelli, whose team held up nicely after a long Sunday that started at 4 a.m. when they arrived back from Olean and continued until past 11 p.m. thanks to academic meetings, video study, and practice. ” They needed something good to happen. When the ball didn’t drop in the first half, we sagged.”

The Hawks also stepped up the defensive effort after halftime, limiting the Tigers to just seven made field goals on 26 attempts (26.9 percent). They held Josh Thornton in check, who had just seven points in the second on 2-10 shooting and 1-6 from behind the arc. He finished with 23, while Jarrel Smith ended up with 17 points, 15 of which came in the second half. The Towson bench accounted for 44 of their 57 points, and no one other than Smith and Thornton topped four points on the day. Robert Nwankwo had 14 rebounds in the losing effort, while leading scorer Calvin Lee was held to just three points (1-7 shooting) and no rebounds in 28 minutes.

Martelli credits Prescott for a lot of that defense, as he helped quiet Thornton’s first half onslaught. But it was the offensive adjustment that also helped turn the tide. The Hawks had open looks in the first and struggled to connect, but four quick threes to open the second half created some gaps in the Towson zone defense, and with a little patience, gave Hilliard the room he needed to operate.

“It wasn’t really a change, but in the first it just felt like we were passing around the zone too much and not attacking it, so we came in at halftime said we had to attack the zone more, and we did that,” said Hilliard. “Once a couple guys started hitting threes, I caught the ball a couple times and was surprised I was so wide open.”

“I was pleased with the patience that we showed,” Martelli said. “We’re a team that wants to play obviously quicker, and I had a fear when we came in that with all that matchup that they do that we would just rely on jumper, jumper, jumper. In the second half, we made a concerted effort to put the ball in the lane. Idris had some good finishes in the bucket area.”

Fall Roundup: Field hockey fall short again; men’s soccer redefines futility

Lost in The Hawk’s basketball preview hoopla, the fall season at St. Joe’s officially culminated with the final games for men’s soccer and field hockey taking place last weekend, under vastly different circumstances.

Field hockey’s season once again ended in the Atlantic 10 Championships, the ninth straight season the Hawks have qualified for the final four in the conference without taking home the title.

This year’s culprit was cross-town rival and third-seeded Temple, who defeated the Hawks, 3-0, to finish their season. In the other semifinal, top-seeded Richmond defeated hosts Massachusetts, 2-1 in overtime, and triumphed over Temple in the title game, 3-0.