In the upcoming Atlantic 10 Field Hockey Tournament the defending champion Hawks of Saint Joseph’s will be the top seed. The Hawks are the regular season champions and will meet fourth-seeded Lock Haven on Friday.
The tournament will take place in Richmond. The Richmond Spiders gained the third seed and will play the two-seed Massachusetts. The winners meet on Sunday. The tournament champion will be the automatic qualifier to the NCAA Tournament.
Saint Joe’s won the regular season and post-season last season. Those games were played at Ellen Ryan Field. This season with an 8 – 0 Atlantic 10 record, the Hawks were on top of the standings for the third time in the past four years. SJU was 15 – 3 overall.
The Hawks defeated Lock Haven 4 – 0 during the season, and have a 4 – 1 win over Massachusetts as well as a 3 – 2 victory against Richmond. That game clinched the regular season title for SJU and was played at Crenshaw Field.
Lock Haven enters the tournament on a four-game win streak.
Saint Joe’s lost their final game of the season at #1 North Carolina 3 – 2 on double-overtime. The other two losses for the Hawks were against nationally-ranked opposition. SJU fell 2 – 1 in overtime at Syracuse, and 4 – 3 to 7th ranked Michigan at home.
Tonya Botherway leads the Hawks on offense scoring 16 goals and assisting twice for a team-best and conference-leading 34 points. Pepa Serrano follows with 28 points (7 goals, 14 assists). Kathrin Benta has 27 points (7 goals, 13 assists) and Jordan Olenginski has 10 goals and 3 assists for 23 points. Those four players are the top four in conference points. Botherway and Olenginski are in first and second place in the A10 in goals. Serrano and Bentz rank 1st and 2nd in assists.
Goal Keeper Victoria Kammerinke has given up 29 goals over the season and made 67 saves for a 69.8% save percentage.
The Hawks average 4.28 goals per game and over 16 shots, giving up 1.61 goals per game and just over 9 shots per contest.
Lock Haven (11 – 7, 6 – 2 Atlantic 10) will rely on defense as the team gets and gives up an average of less than 2 goals per game. Goal Keeper Joaquina Orlandini is solid in goal as 20 shots got past her. She made 53 saves for a 72.6 save percentage. Jazmin Palma leads the team in scoring with 5 goals and 6 assist for 16 points. Amy Stevens has 6 goals and 2 assists for 14 points.
It is time for these teams to play for a league and national title.
Written By: Glenn Papazian
Contact: Glenn@PhillyCollegeSports.com
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