VILLANOVA, Pa. – Four Hawks notched hat tricks as the Saint Joseph's women's lacrosse team cruised past Villanova, 16-9, at Villanova Stadium on Wednesday.  Bridget Cerciello led the way with five goals, while Lauren Figura, Stephanie Kelly, and Sam McGee netted three apiece as the Hawks won their fourth in a row.

HOW IT HAPPENED
• Villanova (2-4) scored the game's first goal, but Cerciello scored her first of the day, followed by two in a row by McGee, to stake the Hawks to a 3-1 lead.

• The hosts would tie it at 3-3 with 18:14 to go in the first half, but Figura answered three minutes later to put the Hawks on top for the remainder of the game.

• After a Wildcat own goal extended the margin to 5-3, Penny Green made it a three-goal game when she scored a goal during a Villanova yellow card before two in a row from Kelly extended the lead to 8-3.  The teams would trade goals, with Cerciello scoring another goal on a yellow card advantage with 64 seconds remaining in the half, to send the game into the break at 9-4.

• The Wildcats cut the Hawk advantage to three with the first two scores of the second half, but the Hawks took over from there, ripping off three consecutive goals and five of the next six.

• McGee, Figura, and Cerciello would double the SJU margin over the next six minutes, making it 12-6 with 18:50 to play.  After VU answered, Cerciello and Kelly scored consecutive goals to essentially put the game on ice at 14-7 with 7:24 remaining.

• Saint Joseph's (4-2) would salt away the win with two more goals, including Figura's third and Cerciello's fifth of the day.

BEHIND THE BOX SCORE
• Mikala Davis notched her fourth straight win between the pipes, turning away eight shots on the day.  Alexa Moro made 12 saves for Villanova.

• The Hawks outshot the Wildcats on the day, 31-25, and held the hosts to just 17 shots on goal.

• SJU also won the turnover battle, committing 14 while the Wildcats gave it up 17 times.  Lindsey Smith caused a game-high four turnovers, while Julia Pash had a hand in three.

• Cerciello scooped up a game-high five ground balls to go with three draw controls, while Taylor Newman-Farr corralled six draws to match two Villanova players for the most on the day.  As a team, the Hawks won 15 draws to 12 for Villanova.

UP NEXT
Saint Joseph's returns home for its next three games.  The Hawks will kick off the homestand with a 1:00 p.m. start against Johns Hopkins on Saturday.