July 13, 2023 –
This is the third of a series for the City Six athletic programs where we look back at the bright, shining stars from the athletic season.
We will name the Team of the year and Student Athlete of the year for each school. In addition we will list an honor roll for teams and student athletes. A team recognition will be noted by a championship, post season advancement, and / or a significant achievement. To be named as a player one should have a national award or honor, a league accolade, significant achievement, or team record.
Let’s take a look back at the past season on Hawk Hill and the rivers.
Team of the Year: Saint Joseph’s Field Hockey
The Hawks, ranked 9th in the NFHCA Coaches Poll, won the Atlantic 10 for the second consecutive year, and had their highest end of season ranking in program history. Saint Joe’s won the title with a dominating 3 – 0 win over UMass. The championship for SJU is the fifth in the last six seasons. The team coached by Hannah Prince went 16 – 5 over the season, and were undefeated in A10 play going 7 – 0. This season Saint Joseph’s won their first round NCAA game defeating #10 Wake Forest in the first game. The season came to an end via a 5 – 2 loss to top-ranked North Carolina. Saint Joe’s played 8 regular season games against ranked teams. The team defeated six ranked squads; #8 Rutgers, #20 Boston College, #15 Harvard, #21 UMass twice, and Wake Forest.
Co-Student – Athletes of the Year: Lily Santi and Freke van Tilburg, Saint Joseph’s Field Hockey
Both players were honored with major league awards. Santi was named the Offensive A10 Player of the Year while van Tilburg received the Defensive Player of the Year award. Both players are All-Americans.
Santi led the conference in scoring with 16 goals and 39 points over the season. She tied for second in assists.
van Tilburg assisted on 7 goals and scored 8 of her own for 23 points, third in the conference.
Each student-athlete was named to the Atlantic 10 All-Tournament team with Santi being the Most Outstanding Player finishing with a goal and 2 assists in the two games.
Honor Roll Teams:
Saint Joseph’s Men’s Rowing
The men’s rowing team won the inaugural Atlantic Association of Rowing Colleges Championship. The Hawks had 4 boats medal in earning 40 team points. Saint Joseph’s won the 2nd Varsity 8’s Grand Final in 5:56.1. SJU also won the Varsity 4 Grand Final in 6:55.8. The team B boat was second with a time of 7:06.1. In the Varsity 8 Grand Final Saint Joseph’s placed second. The Third Varsity 8 boat won a bronze medal at the Dad Vail Regatta.
Saint Joseph’s Baseball
The team won the Atlantic 10 regular season title for the first time ever, and entered the conference tournament as the top seed. Coach Fritz Hamburg was named as the league Coach of the Year, and 9 players were named all-league. Outfielder Ryan Cesarini won the conference batting championship with a .392 batting average. Freshman pitcher Ryan DeSanto led the Atlantic 10 in strikeouts by a rookie fanning 74 batters. The Hawks played three A10 Tournament games losing twice to end the season. DeSanto was named to the All-Championship team. It was the third consecutive season where the Hawks appeared in the conference championship tournament.
Saint Joseph’s Men’s Lacrosse
Saint Joe’s earned the number one seed in the Atlantic 10 inaugural championship by going 5 – 0 in the league. They went 10 – 5 overall, and coach Taylor Wray was named Coach of the Year. But Saint Joseph’s lost to High Point in their first tournament game. Faceoff specialist Zach Cole, a Tewaaraton Award Watchlist Player, was named an All-American Honorable Mention. More details on Cole will follow. The offense was led by three major scorers. Carter Page led the team in points with 52 scoring 47 goals and assisting 5 times. He was tops in the league in goals per game. Levi Anderson scored 39 goals and recorded 11 assists for 50 points. Matt Bohmer ranked third in scoring with 24 goals and a team-high 23 assists. On defense Patrick Clemens was the team leader in caused turnovers with 13.
Student – Athletes Honor Roll
Erik Reynolds II, Men’s Basketball who was named to the All-Big Five First Team. Reynolds II ranked second in the conference scoring 19.6 points per game starting in all 33 games. He scored in double figures in 32 of them, and five times scored 30 points or more. This past season the sophomore guard set career-bests in assists at 84 and steals with 43. He scored 648 points, the fifth-most in a single season at Saint Joseph’s. Reynolds was named to the Atlantic 10 All-Championship team averaging 22 points per game in the tournament. The Hawks went to the quarterfinal round.
Talya Brugler, Women’s Basketball who was named to the Atlantic 10 Women’s Basketball First Team, the first Hawks player to do so since Natasha Cloud in 2015. Brugler is also a First Team All- Big Five performer. She averaged 16.7 points per game to lead the team. Brugler also led the team in minutes with 1,031 and in steals with 38. At the free throw line the forward had the highest percentage on the team making 109 of 130 for 83.8%. Brugler was the A10 and Big Five Rookie of the Year in her previous season.
Laura Ziegler, Women’s Basketball who became the second consecutive Saint Joseph’s player to be named the conference Rookie of the Year and the Big Five outstanding newcomer. She joins an impressive group of three other Hawks to win both awards; Talya Brugler, Hillary Klimowicz, and Susan Moran. Ziegler averaged 11.8 points and 8.7 rebounds per game. She was the team leader in rebounds with 271 total. The freshman from Denmark recorded 8 double-doubles during the season, and headed the Hawks in blocked shots swatting away 42. Ziegler was second on the team in minutes at 1,016 just behind Brugler.
Zach Cole, Men’s Lacrosse who was named to three All-American teams. He led the league in Faceoff Wins with 255. His win percentage stood at .620. Cole also had the most ground balls for the team with 171 a number atop the NCAA in the regular season. He holds the program record in both categories. Cole is the fifth player in NCAA history to total over 1,000 faceoff wins.
Alexa Capozzoli, Women’s Lacrosse who was named the Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Year. The attack from Ridley Park, PA scored 26 goals and assisted on 12 to total 38 points, fourth best on the team.
Inigo Diaz, Men’s Tennis who was named as the Atlantic 10 Men’s Tennis Rookie Performer of the Year. Diaz posted a 22 – 7 singles record. He led the Hawks in victories and matches played. In doubles play Diaz participated 26 times and went 17 – 9. Diaz was also named to the Atlantic 10 All-Conference First team.
Anabella Chin, Women’s Track who broke the program record in the 100m Hurdles crossing the finish line in 14.29 at the Atlantic 10 Outdoor Track and Field Championships.
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