The Richmond Spiders field hockey team was able to lock up the Atlantic 10 regular-season championship with a 4-1 victory over Saint Joseph’s on Friday. This is the team’s sixth regular-season championship in the last eight years.
The scoring was started by Saint Joseph’s (7-10, 4-2 A-10) when Hannah Rogers capitalized on a breakaway just five minutes into the game. The goal was the first that the Spiders (11-8, 5-1 A-10) had given up to a conference opponent this season. Richmond answered with 13 minutes left in the half when senior Sarah Blythe-Wood was able to knock a rebound into the cage to tie the game 1-1. After evenly matched, back-and-forth play, the half saw the teams still knotted at one goal apiece.
The second half saw Richmond control the play and take the lead. Five minutes into the half, Blythe-Wood got her second goal of the game on a pass from senior Jess Weidner. This proved to be the eventual game-winner, but the Spiders were not done.
Senior Megan Thompson made it 3-1 fewer than four minutes later when she converted on a breakaway, and sophomore Katelin Peterson added another goal with 21 minutes left in the game on a pass from Blythe-Wood. Richmond goalkeeper Jacki Raithel recorded three saves in the game.
Owls’ offense too much for Saint Louis
Bridget Settles recorded her second hat trick of the season to lead Temple past the Billikens on Friday. The win helped keep the Owls’ playoff hopes alive and eventually gain them a berth in the Atlantic 10 Tournament.
Temple (8-11, 4-2 A-10) took a 3-0 lead into the half on goals from Settles, Kimmi Hanshue and Caryn Lambright. Settles began the scoring with 11 minutes left in the first half when she tipped in a shot from Taylor Musser. The assist was the first of Musser’s career. Fewer than two minutes later, Hanshue put home a penalty stroke to make it 2-0, and with less than a minute to go in the half, Lambright tipped in a shot from teammate Arialle Hess.
Saint Louis (1-16, 0-6 A-10) came out with life early in the second half as sophomore Lauren Noe scored off a penalty corner just a few minutes after the break. The goal, however, was quickly answered by the Owls when Settles got her second goal of the game off of a penalty corner to make the score 4-1.
The Billikens cut the lead to 4-2 when sophomore Nicole Kent put home a pass from Noe, but that was as close as Saint Louis would get. Temple answered again when Charlise Young assisted on Mandi Ruth’s fourth goal of the season. Settles added another goal late in the half to record her hat trick and cement her team’s 6-2 victory.
Explorers end season with victory
Freshman Rebecca Chylack scored with one minute, 46 seconds left in the game to give La Salle a season ending 2-1 victory over Bryant on Halloween. Chylack’s 11th goal of the season was the most by an Explorer rookie in 19 years.
The first goal of the game was scored by junior Beth Carey off a pass form sophomore Lindsay Fry in the eighth minute of the game to give La Salle an early 1-0 lead. The lead held up until Bryant’s Courtney Landi scored to make it a tie game in the second half.
The teams battled back and fourth and traded opportunities until the final two minutes of the game. The winning shot came on a penalty corner when Carey passed the ball to teammate Haley Froshour. Froshour stopped the ball at the top of the circle and Chylack was able to put the ball past the goalie to give La Salle a 2-1 win.
The Explorers had their Atlantic 10 Tournament hopes dashed a day earlier when they dropped a 6-3 contest to Massachusetts.
Andrew Morrison can be reached at [email protected].
