PHILADELPHIA - The Saint Joseph's women's soccer team fell to city rival La Salle, 3-1, Sunday afternoon at Sweeney Field.
The Explorers (5-6-2, 2-2-0 Atlantic 10) opened the scoring with a pair of first half goals to take a 2-0 advantage into the final period.
La Salle's Marykate Bateman opened the scoring at 22:09 as she put back a rebound out of a scrum in front of the SJU goal, while teammate Madison Bower chipped in a shot from the right side of the box at 42:52 to give the visitor's a two-goal lead.
Saint Joseph's Emily Gingrich quickly got her team on the board as she tallied her seventh goal of the season in the 47th minute. Off a pass from senior Shannon Westhead, Gingrich drilled a shot from the right side of the box that bounced off the left post and into the net at 46:54 to bring SJU to within one.
Unfortunately for the Hawks, La Salle's Clarissa Kirsch-Downs added an insurance goal at 61:14 to preserve the Explorers's win.
For the game, La Salle outshot SJU 17-12, while the Hawks' goalkeeper Allison Ebling made five saves on the day.
The Hawks return to action Thursday evening at Richmond at 7:30 p.m.
Game Notes: Prior to Sunday's game, Saint Joseph's and La Salle both honored legendary local youth coach Eddie Leigh for his dedication to growing the game of soccer in the Delaware Valley.
