The SJU field hockey team split their weekend games. They started their weekend with their conference opener at home against Temple. The Hawks officially dedicated Ellen Ryan Field with Ellen Ryan and SJU President John Smithson on hand for the game.

Soon after the game started, Temple got on the board to seize control of the momentum and take the 1-0. The Hawks defense, lead by senior captain Rachel Walsh and senior goalkeeper Liz Messaros were able the settle St. Joe’s down and play even with the Owls. With 6:07 remaining in the first half, Temple added another goal to stretch their lead to 2-0 which is where it would stand at halftime.

The Owls came out firing in the second half. The Owls controlled much of the first fifteen minutes off the half in which they scored twice and stretched their lead to 4-0. Soon after the Owls fourth goal, senior captain Ellen Rowe took on Owls goalkeeper Lizzy Mullin one on one with Rowe beating Mullin for her seventh goal on the year to put the Hawks on the board and give them life. The Hawks controlled parts of the second half after their goal but could not find the back of the net as they dropped their Atlantic 10 opener 4-1 to Temple.

The loss dropped the Hawks to 3-7 and 0-1 in the Atlantic 10.

They got back at it Sunday in D.C. as the Hawks took on the Hoyas of Georgetown in a Jesuit battle. St. Joe’s came out firing in the first half but Hoya goalkeeper Briana Pereira was able to turn away all three shots on goal in the first half. In total, the Hawks outshot the Hoyas 10-1 in the first half and, in the second half, they were able to capitalize. Freshman Jordan Martin took a rebound from Pereira to beat her on the left side of the cage to give the Hawks the 1-0 advantage with 26:02 remaining in the half.

The Hawks kept the pressure on the Hoyas, firing 9 shots and seven of them on goal. The Hawks outshot the Hoyas 9-2 in the second half and 19-3 overall.

The defense was stellar in front of Messaros who was equally stellar in net. The Hawks swarming defense lead by Rachel Walsh and Abby Hoover limited Georgetown to just one shot on net which Messaros turned away for her second 1-0 shutout of the year.

The win improves the Hawks to 4-7 on the year. Saint Joseph’s gets back at it on Wednesday afternoon on Ellen Ryan Field against the Villanova Wildcats at 4:00 pm.


-Steve Dolan

The Saint Joseph’s Women’s Soccer team ended the weekend 0-1-1 for the second weekend in a row. It began Friday night with a 0-0 draw against George Washington. The game featured stellar goalkeeping by Hawks goalkeeper Lauren Jancuska who made four saves, including one in the first overtime on the goal line to keep the Colonials off the board.

Minutes after Jancuska’s goal line stop, GW goalkeeper Lindsey Rowe made a diving save to stop SJU senior captain Maggie Lupinski’s shot and keep the game scoreless. Not to be out done, Jancuska made another save off of a George Washington corner kick to one-up the Colonials.

It was a back and forth game with much of the action taking place between the eighteens. Jen Pfeiffer and Mo Hawkins both got off three shots for the Hawks. The Hawks midfield was active on Friday night with the neutral zone play. The draw ran the Hawks record to 5-4-4 (0-1-2 Atlantic 10).

Sunday afternoon featured an unseasonably warm A10 contest between the Hawks and the Richmond Spiders. St. Joe’s was searching for redemption after Richmond won last year, in Richmond, in overtime. Lauren Jancuska played the first half for the Hawks and made four saves as the game went to overtime tied at 0-0.

Junior goalkeeper Christine Neal came in for the second half for the Hawks. Just about six minutes into the half Richmond got on the board off a Emily Dale chip shot that just cleared Neal who came out to cut off the shot.

The game got feistier as the time went on, including a Richmond defender taunting a SJU parent and numerous hard hits from SJU and Richmond players alike.

The Spiders got an insurance goal when Natalie LeClair received a throw in that lead her to a breakaway on Neal. Neal cut down the angle but LeClair was able to slip it just inside the far post to put the Spiders up 2-0.

However, the Hawks showed some fight. Off a Maggie Lupinski corner kick, sophomore midfielder Shannon Farrell headed the ball in for a goal the cut the Richmond lead in half. The Hawks kept attacking while the Spiders appeared to be on their heels for the remaining nine and a half minutes. Sophomore midfielder Devin Griffin had an opportunity but her shot rung off the post then Hawkins’ second chance shot was blocked in front by Spiders defenders. Lupinski had an opportunity on a breakaway and ripped her shot just wide of the right post as Spiders goalkeeper Andrea Young came out to cut down the angle of the shot.

The Hawks would drop the game 2-1 and fall to 0-2-2 in the Atlantic 10 and 5-5-4 overall. They get back to action Friday night on Finnessey Field against cross-town rival Temple. Game time is set for 7:00 pm.


-Steve Dolan

This past weekend the Saint Joseph’s women’s soccer team extended its unbeaten streak then watched it come to an end.

On Friday the Hawks traveled to Fordham to take on the Rams in their first Atlantic 10 matchup. The Hawks got two opportunities early in the game when a Jen Pfeiffer header hit the cross bar and then a few minutes later, Pfeiffer’s shot also hit the cross bar.

Sophomore goalkeeper Lauren Jancuska made two saves in the first half and junior goalkeeper Christine Neal came in to play the second half.

After playing scoreless soccer for the first 90 minutes, the Hawks went into overtime. Both teams fired three shots in overtime but none of them every made it on net. The Hawks and Rams played a 0-0 double overtime tie. That stretched the Hawks unbeaten streak to five games.

On Sunday Saint Joseph’s took on top seeded La Salle. Entering Sunday, La Salle had not allowed a goal all year. The two teams were in a chest match for almost the entire first half.

La Salle started the scoring by tallying two goals in the final six minutes of the first half to take a 2-0 lead into halftime. After a necessary take down inside the box by senior captain Kayleigh Summers, La Salle was awarded a penalty kick at 52:39. Courtney Niemic put it home for the Explorers as they went up 3-0 on Niemic’s second goal of the game. This is how it would end with La Salle shutting out the Hawks 3-0 for their first loss since September 11th.

Sophomore forward Mo Hawkins recorded two shots on goal for the Hawks.

St. Joe’s is 5-2-3 since August 27th and 5-4-3 overall (0-1-1 in the A10). They return home Friday for a 7pm game at Saint Joseph’s University on Finnessey Field against George Washington.


-Steve Dolan

For just the second game ever at Ellen Ryan Field, the Hawks had a tall task at hand when the #7 ranked California Golden Bears came to town. It did not take long for the Bears to get on the board either. Just under two minutes in, Andrea Earle score at the 33:02 mark after some nice passing from the Bears to give them a 1-0.

Cal slipped into some sloppy play including a yellow card from junior back Deanna Kennedy just about six minutes into the half. With the Bears playing man down, the Hawks put the pressure on goalkeeper Maddie Hand. With 23:28 remaining in the first half, senior co-captain Ellen Rowe took the pass from Theresa Testa to score and tie the game at 1. It was Rowe’s team leading fifth goal of the year.

The Bears responded just 41 seconds later when Lara Kruggel scored on a beautiful shot from just inside the arc. After a controversial call awarded the Bears a penalty stroke with 14:55 remaining in the first half, senior goalkeeper Liz Messaros came up big for the Hawks with a diving save. Just minutes later the Bears kept pressing. Despite some tough defense from junior forward Meghan Githens and senior co-captain Rachel Walsh, the Bears stretched the lead to 3-1 with 13:02 remaining off of a rebound from Messaros. The shot came from Messaros’ left as she made a fantastic diving stop but the rebound landed right on the stick of Lauren Livingston who put it home for the Bears.

The Bears kept pressing and the Hawks defense kept answering with big clearance after big clearance. After a quirky play that saw SJU junior back Abby Hoover get tackled in front of the net, Deanna Kennedy beat Messaros on a loose ball in front to stretch the Cal lead to 4-1 with 11:39 remaining.

Despite being down by three the Hawks really weren’t getting out played. For the remainder of the first half St. Joe’s was peppering Bears GK Hand with shots but just weren’t quite getting the bounces.

Redshirt freshman goalkeeper Katie Mitchell stepped in for Messaros in the second half. Just a 1:05 into the second half Lauren Livingston scored again for Cal to up the lead to 5-1. The Hawks proved to be resilient as Therese Doyle scored with 31:28 remaining in the second half. Then the chest match began. The Hawks and Bears traded goal scoring opportunities for the remaining thirty one and a half minutes but couldn’t convert. “They were a good team and came out strong,” said senior Theresa Testa, who got the assist on Rowe’s goal. “It took us some time to adjust to their speed and skill but we held them in the second half and even put in a goal.” The Hawks ended up losing by a final of 5-2.

“They’re ranked #7 so we knew coming into it that it was going to be a challenging game,” said Hawks’ co-captain Rachel Walsh after the game. “But overall I think we stayed with them pretty well. We were able to score 2 goals against a really skilled team and defensively stopped most of their critical offensive drives. We have a lot of potential, we have so much to prove and we're just focusing on moving forward into the a-10 conference”

Liz Messaros and Katie Mitchell combined to make ten saves for Saint Joseph’s. Maggie Hand made five for the Bears.

 The Bears improve to 9-2 on the year and St. Joe’s falls to 2-6. The Hawks hit the road for a Sunday afternoon matchup against Siena up in Albany, NY.


-Steve Dolan