PHILADELPHIA – Coming off of a 14-12 conference loss to George Mason on Friday evening, the Hawks will embark on a four-game Atlantic 10 road slate beginning in Richmond this Sunday, March 29 when the Hawks take on the Richmond Spiders (4-6, 1-0 A-10) at 1:00 p.m. at Robins Stadium.
Live streaming ($) will be available via a subscription to the Atlantic 10 Digital Network. while live stats will be provided via RichmondSpiders.com.
The top-two Atlantic 10 teams in draw controls will go head to head on Sunday; Saint Joseph's leads the conference and ranks 21st nationally at 13.44 per game while Richmond ranks second in the league at 12.50. The match-up will be between Richmond's Bailey Zerr, who leads the A-10 at 4.50 per game and Saint Joseph's junior midfielder Kelly Phelan, who averages 4.14 per outing to rank second in the conference.
Phelan also ranks third in the A-10 in points per game (3.43) while sophomore midfielder Sarah Smith's 20 total goals rank her third in the conference, as well. Nationally, Saint Joseph's senior goalkeeper Nora McGeever ranks 17th in saves per game (8.89) and 22th in total saves (80), which ranks her third in the A-10 for both categories.
Richmond's Emily Doyle leads the A-10 in total assists (19) and ranks second in total points (37) and points per game (3.70) while goalkeeper Emily Boyce's 9.84 goals-against average ranks second in the A-10.
LEADING HAWKS
Heading into Sunday's game, sophomore midfielder Sarah Smith's 28 points (20G, 8A) lead the Hawks while junior midfielder Kelly Phelan (18G, 7A) has added 25 points; Phelan also leads the squad in draw controls (29) while Smith has scooped up12 ground balls and matches a team-high 12 turnovers. Sophomore attack Nora McCallion (14G, 7A) and sophomore defender Maggie Egan (9G, 4A) have added 10+ point efforts. Additionally, Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Week Aly Gormley has been phenomenal out of the midfield and posted a five-point effort (3G, 2A) to go with four caused turnovers and three ground balls last week.
On the defensive end of the field, junior Caroline Hagan is coming off of a career-high effort in which she matched her single-game career high in ground balls (4) and set a new single-game career high in caused turnovers (5). Hagan (15GB, 12CT) and classmates Courtney Emanuele (15GB, 12CT) and Mallory Grey (11GB, 10CT) have combined for41 ground balls and 34 caused turnovers. Senior goalkeeper Nora McGeever (5-4, 0-1 A-10) owns a 10.53 goals against average and .449 save percentage in 558:27 to go with a team-best 20 ground balls.
SCOUTING RICHMOND
The Spiders (4-6, 1-0 A-10) started the season 3-3 with wins over American (5-4), Liberty (13-10), and Old Dominion (15-8) and losses to #8 Duke (17-4), #7 Virginia (14-6), and Longwood (5-4). Richmond dropped its final three non-conference games to #15 James Madison (10-5), Oregon (15-11), and William and Mary (11-10 OT). The Spiders downed St. Bonaventure, 19-9, on Friday afternoon. Emily Doyle (18G, 20A) leads the squad with 38 points while Bailey Zerr has earned 45 draw controls. Emily Boyce (4-6, 1-0 A-10) has seen all but 62:07 in net to own a 9.84 goals against average and .440 save percentage in 542:40.
SERIES HISTORY AGAINST THE SPIDERS
Richmond owns a 14-1 all-time series advantage over Saint Joseph's as Sunday's game will mark the 16th all-time meeting between the Spiders and Hawks. SJU's lone win came in the form of an 11-10 victory on April 24, 2009.
COMMON OPPONENTS
Both squads' non-conference schedules included American and Longwood, and SJU went 2-0 while Richmond went 1-1 against those opponents. SJU battled American to a 13-12 triple-overtime win while Richmond defeated American 5-4. The Hawks put up a season-high 15-7 win over Longwood while the Spiders dropped a 5-4 decision.
ATLANTIC 10 ACTION
After battling George Mason to a 14-12 loss on Friday, Saint Joseph's will now hit the road to face Richmond (3/29), George Washington (4/3), Duquesne (4/10), and St. Bonaventure (4/12) before coming home to host UMass (4/17), Davidson (4/19), and La Salle (4/24). The Hawks went 2-5 in the A-10 in 2014.
FIVE WINS . . . AND COUNTING
The Hawks posted a 5-3 non-conference record to own five victories heading into their early Atlantic 10 slate, which already matches SJU's total amount of wins from the 2014 season. SJU's program record for wins in a season is 10, set in 2009.
LAST TIME OUT
Recap | Box Score | Video: Postgame Interview
Sophomore attack Nora McCallion scored the final two goals of the game with 1:01 and 0:08 remaining in regulation to pull the Hawks to within two, but the Saint Joseph's women's lacrosse team ultimately fell to George Mason, 14-12, in the Atlantic 10 opener on Sweeney Field on Friday evening. McCallion (3G), junior midfielder Kelly Phelan (3G), and sophomore midfielder Sarah Smith (2G, 2A) led the way on the attack while junior defender Caroline Hagan posted a game-high four ground balls and game- and career-high five caused turnovers.
COACH'S CORNER
"George Mason really came out strong in the beginning, and we were able to make some adjustments throughout the game," said Saint Joseph's head coach Alex Kahoe after Friday evening's loss. "We battled back hard but ultimately, George Mason stayed strong throughout the whole game. Our team did step up in the second half. We fought hard for draw controls and we definitely stepped up defensively. Ultimately, in the end, we made a good run but were not able to capitalize on the final opportunities."
STARTING EIGHT
Saint Joseph's has seen nine Hawks start every game so far this season. The sophomore trio of attack Nora McCallion and midfielders Katelyn Ambrose and Sarah Smith have sparked offensive unit while SJU's junior trio of Courtney Emanuele, Mallory Grey, and Caroline Hagan alongside sophomore Maggie Egan have anchored the back line. Senior goalkeeper Nora McGeever has made all eight starts in net and has seen all but 8:38 between the pipes this season.
SOARING WITH SMITH
Sophomore midfielder Sarah Smith into 50% of SJU's goals in the Hawks' 14-11 win over Monmouth on March 14. Smith registered a career-high seven points on a career-high five goals and career-high two assists to lead Saint Joseph's to its first road win of the season and fourth overall victory.
NO FAILIN' WITH PHELAN
In both of SJU's two overtime victories, junior midfielder Kelly Phelan converted on the game-winning goal. Phelan scored an unassisted goal in the third overtime against American on February 18 and then went on to score the double-overtime GWG on a FPS against Wagner on March 2.
MCGEEVER IN THE NEWS
Senior goalkeeper Nora McGeever was recently featured in The Times Herald, courtesy of Tom Layberger. To read the piece, click here!
