WASHINGTON, D.C. – Saint Joseph's women's lacrosse continued its strong start to conference play, defeating George Washington 17-6 on Wednesday afternoon in the nation's capital.
 
The Hawks moved to 3-0 in A-10 play, a combined 52-16 advantage over conference foes. George Washington moves to 1-2 in the Atlantic 10.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• For the third-straight game, the Hawks started the contest with a slew of unanswered goals as Sarah Groark got the scoring started with a free position goal.
• Only 30 seconds later, the Hawks found the back of the net again as Bonnie Yu delivered a shot into the back of the netting.
• Goals by Emma O'Neill and Maddie Yoder sent the Hawks into the first media timeout with a 4-0 lead. On the other end of the break, the Colonials would strike back with their first and only tally of the quarter.
• Maggie Davidson became the fifth goal scorer of the contest for the Crimson and Gray before O'Neill tallied her second of the day to send the Hawks into the second stanza with a 6-1 advantage.
• On the other end of the break, Yu and Groark each struck home for their second of the contest to increase the advantage to seven goals. George Washington recovered with two of the next three goals.
• The Hawks closed with the final two goals of the half, the first coming from O'Neill as the midfielder slalomed her way through the defense before recording her hat trick. Groark would add a hat trick of her own, finding the net with 15 seconds remaining to give St. Joe's an 11-3 lead at the half.
• Groark would grab her fourth on the other end of the break, scoring just three minutes into the third quarter. The Hawks would be shut out for nearly nine minutes, the hosts taking advantage with a pair of strikes to cut the SJU lead to 12-5.
• St. Joe's eventually struck paydirt through Groark once more, tallying her fifth goal of the afternoon to set a new career-high for the third game running. Alexa Capozzoli tagged her first of the day just moments after, re-establishing a nine-goal advantage with two minutes remaining.
• Nine minutes would expire before the Colonials would be the next to find a goal, but the Hawks would close out the final seven minutes of the game with goals from Riley Evans, Alexa Capozzoli and Kate Tomick to tally their third-straight conference victory in the 17-6 score line.

 
GAME NOTES

• After picking up Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Week honors on Monday, Sarah Groark finished with a game-high five goals. Groark has now scored 14 goals in the Hawks' four wins on the year.
• Emma O'Neill finished with her fourth hat trick of her career; the three-goal output the fourth time of the season the midfielder tallied a multi-goal game.
• Bonnie Yu tallied two goals in the win, leading the team with an eight-game goal streak. The junior has recorded 18 goals in that span.
• Alexa Capozzoli has grown her game in the Atlantic 10 campaign, scoring two goals in each A-10 matchup so far in her rookie season.
• Maddie Yoder added two goals, while Kate Tomick, Riley Evans and Maggie Davidson all scored in the win. Kate Fuhrman (3) and Davidson (2) combined for all five assists for SJU, a career-high for each.
• Evans finished with 12 draw controls, having collected 37 in her first three A-10 games of the year.
• Jorden Concordia made five saves in the decision. Regan Bestick and Liana Moli each entered the game in the fourth quarter.
• The Hawks held a 32-20 tally in shots, a 17-6 advantage in shots on goal.

 
UP NEXT

• The Hawks return to Sweeney Field to face Richmond, first draw beginning at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday, March 25.