DAVIDSON, N.C. - A stellar season for the Saint Joseph's women's soccer team came to a close on Thursday evening as the Hawks fell to La Salle, 2-1, in the quarterfinals of the 2015 Atlantic Championship at Alumni Soccer Field.
Freshman Dakota Mills opened the scoring with her 10th of the season coming in the 12th minute. Off a cross from classmate Hannah Racis, Mills gathered a slightly deflected ball from the right side of the box and drilled a shot that found the back of the left netting at 11:23 to give SJU a 1-0 lead.
The Hawks' lead was short lived though as La Salle's Marykate Bateman tied the game at 13:38 on a header off a set piece.
Madison Bower struck the decisive goal for the Explorers with a strike from the right wing at 69:00 to make it 2-1.
The score would remain as Saint Joseph's finished the season with a 13-7-0 mark, setting a program record for wins and matching the 2008 mark for consecutive wins along the way with six.
Individually, senior goalkeeper Allison Ebling made a SJU A-10 Championship record 10 saves on the night and finishes her career as both the all-time (23) and single-season leader (12) in wins.
Mills finishes the year tied for sixth most in goals (10) and points (23) in a season in SJU history, while junior Emily Gingrich finished the year with a team-best 11 goals, nine assists and 31 points, setting a new single-season mark for assists, tying for second in points and tying for fourth in goals.
The SJU senior class (Ebling, Erica Graziosi, Lindsay Horst, Morgan Michon, Alysa Murphy, Ashley Volm, Shannon Westhead and Ali Whitney) are also just the second class to have led the Hawks to three A-10 Championship appearances during their time on Hawk Hill.
