MERION STATION, Pa. – Four goals in a 14-minute span in the first half helped La Salle past the Saint Joseph's field hockey team, 4-3, on a chilly Friday afternoon at Ellen Ryan Field.

“I think there were moments of the game where we played our best hockey,” head coach Lynn Farquhar said.  “We had some great off-ball movement, some great passing strings, and some goal-scoring opportunities.  At the end of the day, we didn't finish and capitalize on the opportunities we created.”

The Hawks opened the scoring just minutes into the game, but four straight goals from the Explorers put SJU behind the eight ball early on.  Less than two minutes into the contest, sophomore Kerri Turk sent a long ball into the circle for senior Tori Popinko, who converted for her third goal of the season to give the Hawks a 1-0 lead.

La Salle (10-7 overall, 5-3 Atlantic 10) answered 18 seconds later, as Juliana Carfagno slotted home her second of the year on a pass from Emily Vasey.  Devin Muracco gave the Explorers a 2-1 lead with 26:05 to go in the half with her fifth goal of the year before Carfagno set up Kendall Kreider for her seventh and a 3-1 La Salle lead with 22:20 remaining.

Vasey extended the lead with her first goal of the season on an assist from Jess Hoffman to extend the lead to 4-1 just 16:09 into the game.

Saint Joseph's (8-9 overall, 3-5 Atlantic 10) pegged one back just over a minute later when freshman Jackalyn Pauling scored the first goal of her career after a ball from Popinko got loose in front of the cage to cut the deficit to 4-2.

Senior Jordan Martin made it a one-goal game with 28:54 to play with her eighth goal of the season.  Taking possession in the La Salle end of the field, Martin dribbled in, flipped the ball up in the air, and blasted it past La Salle's Rachel Hartman to get SJU back within a goal at 4-3.

Both keepers raised their games down the stretch, as sophomore Amelia Deibler made back-to-back saves with four minutes remaining the keep the Hawks in the contest, and Hartman denied Popinko in the final seconds to preserve the win for La Salle.  Deibler finished the game with a career-high 10 saves, while Hartman made five for the Explorers.

“We have to give credit to La Salle,” Farquhar said.  “They came out with energy and scored three goals in an eight-minute span of the game.  We can't let down and have moments where we choose not to pay attention to the details.  It caught up to us, and we dug ourselves a pretty big hole.  We did do a good job trying to get out of it.”

Saint Joseph's will wrap up its 2014 campaign on Sunday with a home game at noon against Brown. SJU will honor its departing seniors – Martin, Popinko, Nicole Gerdes, Sara Kolobielski, Corie McLaughlin, and Katie Walsh – in a pre-game ceremony.