COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Fresh off its victory in the Atlantic 10 Championship, the Saint Joseph's field hockey team is ranked ninth in the final Penn Monto / NFHCA Division I Coaches Poll of the 2022 season, which was released on Tuesday.

It is the highest end-of-season ranking in program history; the Hawks previously finished the year ranked 10th in 2018.

The Hawks topped VCU, 2-1, in the semifinals of the Atlantic 10 Championship on Thursday before smothering #21 UMass, 3-0, in the title game on Saturday in Amherst, Massachusetts.  The SJU defense played its most dominant game of the season, not allowing a shot to the home side, and posting its 11th shutout of the campaign, the most in the nation.

Saint Joseph's is set to meet Wake Forest in the First Round of the NCAA Tournament; the Demon Deacons slipped two spots to #10 in this week's poll.  The winner could face North Carolina, which remains the unbeaten unanimous number-one atop the poll.  The Hawks and Tar Heels met previously this season, with UNC coming away with the victory.

Six other Hawk opponents appear in the poll, headlined by #5 Virginia and #6 Penn State.  The Hawks earned victories this season over Harvard, which slipped one spot to #16; Rutgers, which held steady at 18th; Boston College, ranked 20th after a four-spot drop; and UMass, which remained 21st.

The Hawks and Demon Deacons will meet at 2:30 p.m. on Friday in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.