MERION STATION, Pa. – Manu Ghigliotti notched a hat trick and Freke van Tilburg scored two goals of her own as the 12th-ranked and top-seeded Saint Joseph's field hockey team advanced to the Atlantic 10 championship game with a record-breaking 8-1 win over fourth-seeded Richmond at Ellen Ryan Field on Friday.

HOW IT HAPPENED
• Saint Joseph's (15-4) opened the scoring midway through the first quarter, earning a trifecta of corner opportunities before van Tilburg converted for a 1-0 lead.  Anna Miller would double the advantage on another corner four minutes later.

• Ghigliotti got on the board early in the second on another corner before a Nika Hansen breakaway made it 4-0 with 5:30 to go in the half.

• Van Tilburg then netted her second with a minute and a half to go in the second quarter on another corner play.

• Lily Santi grabbed a loose ball and tucked it home six minutes into the third before Ghigliotti tallied twice in a span of 23 seconds to put the Hawks up by eight.

• Richmond (5-14) got on the board midway through the fourth as a goal by Lindsey Frank closed out the scoring.

BEHIND THE BOX SCORE
• SJU held a 25-4 shot advantage and earned 11 penalty corners to four for the Spiders.

• Erika Latta made eight stops for Richmond while Robin Bleekemolen made one for the Hawks.

• Ghigliotti's hat trick is the first of her career; she is now tied with van Tilburg for the league lead in goals.

• The win set a pair of Atlantic 10 Championship records; the eight goals and seven-goal margin eclipsed the previous marks set by the Spiders in a 7-1 title game victory over UMass in 2005.

UP NEXT
The Hawks will play in their sixth consecutive championship game on Saturday when they meet second-seeded VCU at 1:00 p.m.  The Rams advanced past third-seeded UMass, 2-1, in a shootout on Friday.