March 23, 2009

PHILADELPHIA - Seniors Dani Gonzales and Helene Tursi and were named Atlantic 10 Softball Co-Pitcher of the Week and Lacrosse Player of the Week, respectively. The honor is the first this season for both Hawks.

Going 4-1 on the week with a 0.24 ERA and 30 strikeouts, the Hawks' ace opened up competition with a six strike out performance against Penn, allowing her lone earned run of the week in SJU's 4-1 victory over the Quakers. Gonzales followed that up with a pair of complete-game shutouts in Saint Joseph's Atlantic 10 opening series versus La Salle. Gonzales allowed just seven hits, while striking out 13 batters in 13 innings of work in the Hawks' pair of 8-0 wins.

On Sunday, Gonzales earned her fourth win of the week, striking out eight Boston University Batters in SJU's 4-1 victory. Gonzales was the hard-luck loser in the Hawks' 3-2 loss to Lehigh though, despite allowing no hits and one unearned run in 1.2 innings of relief. Gonzales is the second different Hawk to earn Atlantic 10 weekly honors and shares this week's honor with Emily Jeffrey of Charlotte

Tursi scored a career-high seven goals at Villanova on Thursday in a 18-4 Hawk victory. She followed that up with a two-goal showing against Old Dominion to up her 2009 goal total to 18. Tursi, who prior to the 2009 season had collected just nine goals in 36 games, matched the number in the two games last week alone.

Tursi is the fifth different SJU player to earn a weekly award this season. Suzy Herlihy (Co-Player of the Week), Meghan McDevitt, Julie Mineweaser and Jen Peters (Rookies of the Week) have also been honored by the Conference.