April 6, 2008
Box Score
PHILADELPHIA, Pa. - The up and down season continues for the Saint Joseph's women's lacrosse team as the Hawks defeated La Salle, 11-9, in Atlantic 10 action on Sunday. After a tough mid-week non-conference loss at Rutgers, Saint Joseph's (7-5, 2-1 Atlantic 10) saw five different players record three or more points on the afternoon. In addition to the offense, SJU received a stellar performance from goalkeeper Suzy Herlihy who made 10 saves in net to help hold off the Explorers.
Saint Joseph's got on the board early with an opening goal by Christina Colangelo just 3:42 into the game. Abby Renninger would get in on the act 10 minutes later on an unassisted goal to make it 2-0. The Hawks seemed to be running away with things when Colangelo netted the next two goals to give Saint Joseph's a 4-0 lead with 9:21 remaining in the half.
What seemed like a blowout soon changed when La Salle tallied two goals of their own to pull within two goals. The Hawks went on a quick run in the last minute of the half, scoring three goals in 48 seconds to close the stanza. Jenna Martino, the Hawks' leading scorer, played an excellent pass over to Abby Renninger on the run who stretched the lead to three. Thirty seconds later Martino found Courtney McManama for a 6-2 lead. McManama then took control of the draw, rushed down the field and scored with two seconds to play to give SJU a decisive 7-2 halftime lead.
La Salle didn't give in, scoring four of five goals in the first 20 minutes of the half to pull within 8-6. In that run, McManama added her third goal with 13 minutes to go. After the Explorer run, SJU ran off three straight goals to all but put the game away. Martino tallied an unassisted goal while Renninger and Colangelo both received assists from Kelly Huether (three assists) to give the Hawks an 11-6 lead with 6:59 remaining.
La Salle made a final run with goals at 4:44, 1:53 and a man-down goal with 0:14 remaining to achieve the final 11-9 score line. The Explorers fell to 0-11 overall and 0-4 in the Atlantic 10.
Saint Joseph's will hit the turf again as the Hawks will take on the Minutewomen of Massachusetts on Friday, April 11 at 4:00 p.m. on Finnesey Field. UMass will enter the game at 3-9 overall, 1-2 in the Atlantic 10 after dropping a 12-9 decision to Temple on Sunday.
