PHILADELPHIA - Led by freshman attacker Stephanie Kelly's six goals, the Saint Joseph's women's lacrosse squad defeated La Salle, 21-7, in the 2018 regular-season finale at McCarthy Stadium on Saturday afternoon. With their sixth consecutive win, which matches the program's longest single-season winning streak, the Hawks improve to 11-6 overall (7-2 A-10) while the Explorers conclude their season with a 7-10 overall record (3-6 A-10).

Saint Joseph's 11th win of the season matches the program record for single-season wins, repeating on its 11-win season from last spring. The last time the program had won 10 games in one year was in 2009.

SJU's rookie attackers combined for half of the Hawks' offensive output, led by Kelly and freshman attacker Sam McGee (4g, 1a). Sophomore midfielder Laura Lasprogata notched five points (3g, 2a) while junior midfielders Sinead Brierley (1g, 3a) and Hayley Sabol (3g) added significantly to the scoring.

On the other end of the field, graduate student goalkeeper Liz O'Sullivan made 10 saves vs. six goals allowed in the first 48:32 to earn her 11th win of the season in net, breaking the program's single-season record for goalkeeper victories.

The Hawks and Explorers traded goals for the first 7:20 before McGee (20:11), senior midfielder Aly Gormley (17:36), and Kelly (13:46) combined for a trio of consecutive scores to put SJU up by three, 5-2, mid-way through the first half.

La Salle's Brittany Edwards responded at the 12:30 mark to bring the Explorers to within two, but the Hawks' offense then exploded for seven unanswered goals within just over a six-minute span to take dominating 12-3 advantage into the final 4:00 of the first half; Sabol scored two of SJU's first three goals of the run before Kelly put away back-to-back scores (8:27, 7:32) and Lasprogata closed the run with her first of the game; Brierley had three of her four points on one goal (4:37) and two helpers during that run.

The Explorers put away an unassisted goal with 21 ticks remaining for a 12-4 score at the half, but the Hawks didn't let up, scoring seven of the first eight goals of the second frame as Kelly scored back-to-back times (28:03, 26:51), McGee put away a hat trick in a span of just under eight minutes (26:51, 23:33, 19:17), and Lasprogata converted an eight-meter (17:23) before assisting on Gormley's second of the game (14:49) to close out the run.

The Crimson and Gray owned a comfortable 19-5 advantage entering the final 14:49, and freshman attacker Alyssa Manley put away her third of the season (8:09) before Lasprogata completed her first collegiate hat trick (3:59) for the eventual 21-7 final.

Saint Joseph's outshot La Salle 35-20, scoring on 21 of those shots for a phenomenal .600 shot percentage. The Hawks held a 14-8 edge in ground balls while the Explorers used an 11-5 first-half edge from the circle to go 13-of-24 for the game.

Junior midfielder Ally Beck went for a team-high five draw controls and matched a team-high three ground balls and a team-high two caused turnovers while sophomore midfielder Julia Pash added three ground balls and two caused turnovers off the bench.

SJU turned the ball over a season-low four times, went a perfect 16-of-16 in clear attempts, and converted 5-of-8 free-position shots.

The Hawks have officially claimed the third seed for next weekend's Atlantic 10 Championship, marking the third year in a row in which Saint Joseph's will appear in the postseason tournament. Third-seeded Saint Joseph's will face sixth-seeded George Mason (11-6, 5-4 A-10) in the Atlantic 10 quarterfinals this upcoming Thursday, May 3. Opening draw control at Robins Stadium in Richmond, Va. is set for 2:30 p.m.