PHILADELPHIA – The Saint Joseph's women's lacrosse offense remained hot on a cold and windy Sunday afternoon on Sweeney Field, opening Atlantic 10 play with a 17-10 win over VCU.
Four Hawks recorded a hat trick in the win to help move the Hawks to 3-3 (1-0 A-10), while VCU falls to 1-6 (0-1 A-10) on the year.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- The Hawks sandwiched a VCU strike with goals on either side from sophomore Kate Fuhrman, putting St. Joe's up 2-1 in the opening three minutes of the contest.
- Fuhrman turned provider, finding Alexa Capozzoli with the goalkeeper out as her sophomore counterpart scored an easy finish from close range to double the lead.
- Maddie Yoder powered her attempt past the Ram goalkeeper before the end of the quarter, helping the Hawks to a 4-2 advantage after the opening 15 minutes.
- Fuhrman completed her hat trick in the early stages of the second quarter, Lisa Ross finding her second assist of the game to push the lead to 5-2.
- Sarah Groark capped off the scoring in the final minutes of the second quarter, keeping the Rams at bay with a 6-4 lead headed into the break.
- Capozzoli scored her second goal of the game on the opening possession for St. Joe's in the third quarter before three consecutive VCU goals tied the score for the first time since the opening minute of the contest.
- St. Joe's countered the visitor response with three goals of its own, led by a solo effort from Emma O'Neill. Capazzoli and Bonnie Yu also found the back of the net in a 2:30 span to give the Hawks a 10-7 advantage.
- Goals from Yoder and Groark gave the Hawks their largest lead of the game to that point with just two minutes and change in the third period before the Dragons pulled a goal back to enter the final frame with a 12-9 deficit.
- Yoder became the second Hawk to register a hat trick, striking first for either side in an eventual 5-1 quarter for St. Joe's.
- With the game out of reach, Fuhrman grabbed her fourth of the afternoon before Groark added goals three and four of her day in the final three minutes to open the A-10 season with a 17-10 victory.
GAME NOTES
- Kate Fuhrman recorded her second consecutive game with four goals, adding an assist for five points on the afternoon.
- Alexa Capozzoli had a team-best seven points after registering three goals and four assists. Capozzoli set a new career-best with the seven points, matching her career-high in goals.
- After becoming the 23rd player in program history to reach 100 career points, Lisa Ross added five assists in the win to tie Lindsey-Kate McCool for fifth in program history in career assists (65).
- Sarah Groark also capped off an electric day in front of net, leading the team with eight shots with a tied team-best four strikes, doubling her output heading into the contest.
- Maddie Yoder was the fourth Hawk to register a hat trick with three goals on the day, leading the team with nine draw controls.
- Jorden Concordia finished with seven saves on the afternoon.
- The Hawks were a perfect 12-12 in clears and held a 17-9 advantage in ground balls. St. Joe's produced a 37-24 margin in shots, 26-17 advantage in shots on goal.
- Saint Joseph's is now 7-1 all-time against the Rams, the lone stumble coming in last year's regular season finale.
- The Hawks have now conceded just 10 or fewer goals on five occasions this year, the 17 goals scored being the most lethal output of the season.
UP NEXT
St. Joe's looks to test themselves next weekend in a 1 p.m. draw against UMass, the Hawks meeting the Minutewomen in a matchup on Saturday, March 16.
