Saint Joseph's University

About Saint Joseph's University

A new era of Saint Joseph's basketball began in the 2009-10 season as the Hawks celebrated the opening of Michael J. Hagan '85 Arena. The culmination of a 16-month renovation and expansion project, Hagan Arena provides new and updated amenities for fans and student-athletes alike while maintaining the distinct home court advantage the Hawks enjoyed at Alumni Memorial Fieldhouse. The home of Hawk basketball now features air conditioning, chair-back seating, a new upper-level concourse with additional restrooms and concession stands, and additional entrances along 54th Street. The expansion project increased the capacity of the arena to 4,200 – an increase of one thousand over the capacity of Alumni Memorial Fieldhouse.

Sweeney Field, formerly known as Finnesey Field, has been home to 10 different Saint Joseph's varsity teams in nearly 90 years of use. After opening in 1929 as the home of the Hawk football squad, the field has undergone numerous changes over the years and has been the site of over 1,200 Saint Joseph's varsity games, matches, and track meets. The pitch is the current home of the varsity men’s and women’s soccer and lacrosse programs. Nestled into the heart of campus and featuring a state-of-the-art TigerTurf playing surface as well as seating for 3,000, the facility was christened Sweeney Field in the fall of 2013 upon the completion of an extensive expansion project.

After spending three-plus seasons playing home games off-campus, the Hawks returned to City Avenue in 2011 when they opened up Ellen Ryan Field on the Maguire Campus. Named for longtime assistant athletic director and Saint Joseph's women's sports pioneer Ellen Ryan, Ryan Field is equipped with a top-of-the-line synthetic AstroTurf12 surface, state-of-the-art water cannons, an irrigation drainage system, a mobile press box, and bleacher seating for 200 fans.

A new era of Saint Joseph's tennis began in 2009 as the Hawks began play at the new SJU Tennis Complex at the Maguire Campus. The Tennis Complex added six new courts as well as new offices and locker rooms for both the men’s and women’s tennis programs. Supplementing the Tennis Complex are the Finnesey Courts, the former home of Hawk tennis. Featuring four courts, the use of Finnesey Courts allows for a significant increase in the amount of competition space for dual meets and invitationals.

In 2012, Saint Joseph's brought its baseball program back to campus for the first time in over 50 years. After a nomadic half century that saw the Hawks play their homes games at seven different sites, John W. Smithson Field opened with a 5-1 Saint Joseph's victory over Iona on March 9, 2012. One of the premier collegiate baseball facilities in the Northeast, Smithson Field features a synthetic playing surface with a dirt pitching mound. The surface, AstroTurf 3D GameDay Grass, is the industry standard for baseball and is in use at Major League stadiums such as Tropicana Field, the home of the Tampa Bay Rays in St. Petersburg, Florida, and the Toronto Blue Jays' Rogers Centre in Ontario.

After two decades of playing home games off campus, the Saint Joseph's softball program now has a place to call its own as the SJU Softball Field opened in 2012. The Hawks christened their new facility with a 1-0 win over Rider on March 21, marking the first varsity softball game on campus since 1990. Tucked into the Maguire Campus, down the hill from Smithson Field and along City Avenue, the SJU Softball Field features a dirt infield and, at the time of its construction, was just the third facility in the Atlantic 10 to boast a turf outfield.