PHILADELPHIA, PA. 10/13/2016 – The Saint Joseph’s women’s soccer team got a chance to play from ahead for the first time in a few games. The Hawks used their biggest offensive output of the season defeating the Richmond Spiders 5 – 2 at Sweeney Field. The unbeaten streak for Saint Joe’s has reached twelve games.
“The thing I like about this team in that they keep moving ahead regardless of the situation,” said Saint Joseph’s Coach Jess Mannella. “We kept fighting.”
“I am pumped we scored five goals,” said Saint Joseph’s midfielder Emily Gingrich. “We needed it, and now we need to keep it coming.”
The Hawks took an early lead when forward Dakota Mills scored her 10th goal of the year within the first ten minutes of the game. Gingrich followed with her first of two goals on the evening at the 25:49 mark to give Saint Joe’s a 2 – 0 lead. Richmond forward Meaghan Carrigan tapped in the ball on an open net to make the score 2 – 1, a lead SJU took into intermission.
Just under 8 minutes into the second half Gingrich scored another goal, her 8th of the year, off a cross from forward Shannon Mulvey giving the Hawks a two-goal cushion.
“A 2 – 1 lead is the scariest in a soccer game,” Gingrich said. “We got that goal, and we’ve been giving up that goal. That was important for us.”
Richmond got another proximity goal in the 69th minute from Keaira Clark. The assist went to Lexi Prillaman who leads the Atlantic 10 in points.
“This Richmond team is very good,” Mannella said. “We said we need to get that third one, and we did. That’s what changed us. They got the goal to make it tighter, and we got the goal to put the game away.”
Saint Joseph’s (11 – 1 – 2, 4 – 0 – 1) entered the game two points behind league leading Duquesne, and stood tied with Saint Louis in second place. The next two games are critical for the Hawks in their quest for a league regular season championship as the play the Dukes in Pittsburgh on Sunday, then the Billikens at home on October 20.
“We said enjoy the win tonight, and tomorrow we move on,” said Mannella. “We are heading in the right direction and that’s all you can ask for late in the conference season.”
Written By: Glenn Papazian
Contact: Glenn@PhillyCollegeSports.com
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