PHILADELPHIA - The Saint Joseph's women's soccer team got a pair of goals from sophomore Emily Gingrich, but it wasn't enough as Saint Louis came back for a 3-2 win at Sweeney Field on Sunday afternoon.
Gingrich, who moved into a tie for sixth all-time in goals with 17, gave the Hawks a 2-1 halftime lead, but the Billikens scored twice in the second half to pull ahead.
Trailing by one, Saint Louis took advantage of a failed clear by the Hawks to make it 2-2. On a corner kick by the Billikens, the SJU defense missed an opportunity to clear the ball up the middle, allowing Saint Louis' Danielle Tolmais to gather the loose ball and direct a shot through traffic into the right side of the goal at 61:28.
With the game tied at 2-2, Michelle Schwarz tallied the game-winning goal from the left side of the box on a shot to the right side at 73:42 to put her team ahead for good, 3-2.
In the first half, the Billikens opened the scoring in the ninth minute as Christina Rodriguez took a center pass from the left wing by teammate Kirsten Clemens and delivered a shot to the lower right side past SJU goalkeeper Allison Ebling and into the back of the net at 8:22.
Gingrich squared the match at 1-1 less than three minutes later as she stole the ball in the Billikens' box and arched a shot from the left side over the SLU goalkeeper Hanna Benben's arms and into the right side of the goal at 10:42.
The Hawks (8-7-0, 1-3-0 A-10) would capitalize on a Saint Louis error at 19:26 to take a 2-1 advantage. Off a corner kick, the ball bounced around the box and was stopped by a defender's hand, resulting in a penalty kick. On the try, Gingrich put a shot to the lower right corner for her 10th goal of the season.
For the game, Saint Joseph's finished with a 16-11 edge in shots, while the Billikens held a 9-2 advantage in corner kicks.
Individually, Ebling made five saves in the tough decisions, while Gingrich (six) and juniors Shannon Westhead (four) and Olivia McEachern (three) accounted for 13 of SJU's shots.
The Hawks return to action on Friday when they host St. Bonaventure at 7 p.m.
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