RICHMOND, Va. – Milou Kluyt's goal with less than two minutes to play in the second overtime period carried the third-seeded Saint Joseph's field hockey team past second-seeded VCU, 3-2, in the semifinals of the 2025 Atlantic 10 Championship on Thursday afternoon at Richmond's Crenshaw Field.
 
With the win, the Hawks will play in the championship game for the 10th consecutive season when they take on top-seeded Richmond on Saturday afternoon.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
• Saint Joseph's (10-9) grabbed momentum early, controlling the action until breaking through for the game's first goal with two and a half minutes to go in the first quarter.  The Hawks earned four penalty corners in the frame and made the last one count as Kluyt's shot deflected off a defender's stick and into the cage for a 1-0 lead.
 
• The Hawks only had one corner in the second quarter, but that was all they needed to double the lead.  Adèle Jardemar sent a ball toward the near post for Emily Tammaro to tip past VCU's Emma Clements for a 2-0 lead early in the frame.
 
• VCU (13-5) got back into the game early in the third quarter as Josephine Jense converted on a corner.
 
• The Rams pressed on for an equalizer, ripping off nine shots in the third quarter, but Paige Kieft made five saves in the stanza to keep the Hawks on top heading to the final quarter.
 
• In that final quarter, Emily Foerster tied the game for VCU after a close-range tip-in two minutes into the frame.  The Hawks had the initiative in the closing minutes, earning a corner and putting three shots on the cage, but a pair of stops by Clements and a defensive save by Ana Afonso kept the game on level terms and sent the semifinal into overtime.
 
• The Hawks earned three corners and forced Clements into a pair of saves, but could not break through in the first overtime period.
 
• Morena Macera nearly won it for VCU a minute into the second overtime, but her effort fizzed wide.
 
• The teams played a cautious game in the ensuing minutes, but it culminated in an attacking corner for the Hawks.  Tammaro inserted to Tristan Groff, who stopped it for Kluyt; her shot hit the board inside the near post to set up a jubilant celebration among those clad in Crimson and Gray.
 
BEHIND THE BOX SCORE
• VCU held a 14-13 advantage in shots; the Rams outshot the Hawks 9-1 in the third quarter, but the SJU defense allowed exactly one shot in each of the other five periods on the day.
 
• The Hawks earned 11 corner attempts while conceding six, scoring all three of their goals on set pieces.
 
• Kieft finished with five saves, while Clement made four.
 
• Kluyt's two goals gave her four points, while Tammaro had a goal and two assists for four points of her own.  Groff assisted on both of Kluyt's goals as well.
 
• Thursday marked the second consecutive two-goal game for Kluyt; after scoring two goals in the first 62 games of her collegiate career, the Atlantic 10's newly-crowned Defensive Player of the Year has now totaled four goals in her last two.
 
• Saint Joseph's will make it 10 consecutive Atlantic 10 championship game appearances on Saturday, extending the conference-record streak that was set a season ago.  The Hawks are 7-2 in their previous nine title game opportunities.
 
HAWK TALK
"I am so incredibly proud of the fight that our team showed today," head coach Hannah Prince said after earning the ninth A-10 title game appearance of her combined playing and coaching careers.  "It's not easy to go up two goals early and then get scored on twice and have to really rally to stay in it.  There were a lot of ebbs and flows to the game, and I think there's a lot we can take away from it to get us ready for Saturday. 
 
"I know we had a lot of A-10 [postseason] awards, but I feel that all of those awards are from a collective team effort and that everyone should be so proud of everything that they've done in preparation for this moment.  We have some tweaks to make, but this group is ready to play with energy and grit and leave it all on the field on Saturday."
 
UP NEXT
The Hawks and Spiders will meet for the Atlantic 10 championship on Saturday at noon.  It will be the third time the two programs have met with the trophy on the line; Richmond won in 2006 to claim its fifth consecutive title, while the Hawks won the 2019 matchup to make it three championships in a row.  Both previous matchups also occurred at Crenshaw Field.