PHILADELPHIA – The Saint Joseph's women's lacrosse team returned to winning ways in dominant fashion, celebrating Senior Day with a 17-5 victory over Duquesne on Sweeney Field on Saturday afternoon.
St. Joe's returns to the win column to move to 9-6 on the season and 5-3 in conference play. Duquesne falls to 7-9 and 2-6 in the Atlantic 10.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- St. Joe's opened the game in the first minute with a goal, Sarah Groark finishing from close range from an Alexa Capozzoli feed to put the Hawks in front.
- Capozzoli turned from provider to scorer, scoring for the Hawks midway through the frame to double the advantage.
- After Bonnie Yu scored from a free-position attempt, the Dukes scored the final two goals of the frame to cut the gap to 3-2 after 15 minutes of play.
- The Hawks dominated the middle portion of the contest, holding the Dukes off the board in both the second and third quarters. Groark earned her second of the game to get the 13-0 run started.
- Maggie Davidson fired past the goalkeeper to grab her first of the game before Lisa Ross connected with Olivia McCloskey to get the freshman on the score sheet.
- Bonnie Yu's second strike and a finish from Maddie Yoder just 11 seconds later gave the hosts an 8-2 lead headed into the break.
- Groark tallied the first goal of the second half to record her hat trick, starting a run of four goals over the span of three minutes for St. Joe's.
- Yoder added her second of the game, Ross once again pulling the strings for an assist.
- Yu went solo to grab her third of the game before Yoder and Yu alternated goals again over the final span of the frame to extend the advantage to 13-2 heading into the final quarter.
- Yu needed just 14 seconds for her afternoon encore, tallying her fifth goal of the game.
- Kate Antonelli used a bit of magic to weave through a host of Duke defenders before finishing into the net for her fourth goal of the season.
- The entire team ran to celebrate with Danika Swech, as the graduate student finished off a feed from Ross to earn her first goal in her Hawk career to cap off the Hawk run at 16-2.
- Ross would stem a pair of Duquesne goals to round out the offense for St. Joe's. Duquesne added a consolation goal in the final minute as the Hawks were able to walk off the field as with a 17-5 victory.
GAME NOTES
- Bonnie Yu scored a season-high five goals to lead the Hawks in scoring, adding a game-high seven draw controls with two ground balls and a caused turnover.
- Lisa Ross also added five points with a goal to go along with her four assists. Ross sits tied for second in program history with 84 career assists.
- Alexa Capozzoli recorded three assists with her lone goal of the day for four points.
- Sarah Groark and Maddie Yoder each added a hat trick on the day with three goals, Yoder sitting three goals shy to become the 11th Hawk to reach 100 career goals.
- Kate Antonelli and Olivia McCloskey added goals in the win, while Maggie Davidson scored her first goal of the season.
- Danika Swech played in just her second game in her two years on Hawk Hill after suffering a lower leg injury prior to the 2023 season opener that kept her out for more than 13 months of action. Swech tallied her first goal as a Hawk in the fourth quarter.
- Bella Miceli added four caused turnovers and five draw controls in the win with a pair of ground balls.
- Jorden Concordia recorded 11 saves on a .688 save percentage, moving her career total to 538 saves.
- St. Joe's posted a 32-21 advantage in shots on the afternoon, 27 of the 32 shots landing on target. The Hawks assisted on nine of the 17 goals.
- Saint Joseph's won the draw battle with a 15-9 edge.
- The Hawks have won the last eight games against Duquesne.
UP NEXT
St. Joe's concludes the regular season with a Saturday, April 27 matchup at George Mason. The Hawks and Patriots compete in a noon draw.
