MERION STATION, Pa. – Senior Tori Popinko opened the scoring less than a minute into the second half, and senior Nicole Gerdes converted a penalty corner midway through the frame for a valuable insurance goal as the Saint Joseph's field hockey team evened its record with a 2-1 win over VCU at Ellen Ryan Field on Sunday afternoon.

Saint Joseph's (6-6 overall, 2-2 Atlantic 10) carried the play through much of the first half, but Kendall Clifton made all three of her saves in the period to keep things scoreless at halftime.

The Hawks finally broke through just after the second half restart as senior Jordan Martin dribbled in from the right wing and sent a ball across the front of the cage for Popinko, who tipped it past Clifton for the game's first goal.

Twenty minutes later, the Hawks earned one of their two penalty corners in the half, and Gerdes connected on a blast from the top of the circle to double the lead.  Redshirt senior Sara Kolobielski and sophomore Melanie Colozzi added assists on the goal, Gerdes' fourth of the season.

VCU (1-9 overall, 0-4 Atlantic 10) got back into the game with 7:07 to play as Spencer Tossone notched her second goal of the season on a deflected ball, but the SJU defense held the Rams to just one shot the rest of the way to preserve the victory.

Sophomore Amelia Deibler made three saves in the cage, all of them in the second half, for her sixth win of the season.

The Hawks will host Massachusetts on Friday at 3:30 p.m. before a three-game road swing takes them to Georgetown, Lock Haven, and Saint Louis.