MERION STATION, Pa. –
Manu Ghigliotti tallied the third hat trick of her collegiate career on Sunday as the sixth-ranked Saint Joseph's field hockey team blanked Drexel, 4-0, at Ellen Ryan Field.
HOW IT HAPPENED
• Saint Joseph's (13-2) turned its early possession into an opening goal midway through the first quarter.
Alison Buffington forced a turnover just outside the circle and fed Ghigliotti in front of the cage for a 1-0 lead.
• Ghigliotti's second of the day was a long-distance rocket; after receiving the ball on a restart, she spun to her right to avoid a pair of defenders before firing high into the cage to double the lead just 90 seconds before halftime.
• A clever passing sequence down the left wing set up the third goal of the day.
Sol Borensztein got things started with a give-and-go with
Celeste Smits; Borensztein then flipped a pass up to Ghigliotti to carry into the circle. She then initiated her own give-and-go with Smits before shooting high over Drexel's Alana Poole for a 3-0 lead early in the third quarter.
• Buffington finished off the scoring with less than three minutes remaining in the fourth as
Julia Duffhuis sent a heatseeker into the circle from just inside midfield that Buffington directed into the cage.
BEHIND THE BOX SCORE
• The Hawks held Drexel (11-4) to one shot on the day, which came on a penalty corner in the second quarter and was blocked. SJU ripped off 14 shots, putting 10 of them on target.
• After outshooting Richmond and Drexel by a combined 36-1 margin over the last two games, the Hawks have held their opposition without a shot on goal since early in the fourth quarter at Virginia on October 13, a span that stretches more than 131 minutes.
• Poole made six saves, while
Marith Bijkerk was not forced into action.
• Ghigliotti's hat trick is the third of her career and her eighth multi-goal game in a Hawk uniform.
• Elsewhere in the Atlantic 10, Davidson defeated La Salle, 2-0; that result clinches an Atlantic 10 Championship berth for the Hawks. Saint Joseph's will host the Championship on November 7 and 9 at Ellen Ryan Field.
UP NEXT
The Hawks head west for a conference game at Saint Louis on Friday.
