St. Joseph's Tops West Chester Field Hockey, 3-1
Box Score
WEST CHESTER, Pa. - St. Joseph's scored three straight goals in the first half and rode a solid defensive effort the rest of the way to down host West Chester, 3-1, in an Atlantic 10 field hockey match Sunday afternoon at Vonnie Gros Field.
West Chester (8-9, 3-2 Atlantic 10) was coming off a thrilling upset over Temple on Friday at home while St. Joseph's (6-8, 3-1) rebounded from an overtime loss to LaSalle. The Red Hawks moved past West Chester into second place in the league standings with the win. The Golden Rams still have a good shot at reaching the postseason tournament despite the setback.
The Hawks jumped on top 10 minutes into the contest when Theresa Testa took a pass from Anne Schreuders off a penalty corner and beat Rams' goalkeeper Joelle Zarefoss. In the 23rd minute, Hannah Rogers knocked in a centering pass from Testa to double the visitor's lead. Four minutes later, SJU's Kellie Walter notched an unassisted tally to give the Hawks and insurmountable 3-0 advantage.
West Chester fought back with its lone goal in the 31st minute. Alyssa Gallen took a shot from the right side that was originally trapped in the feet of Hawks' keeper Kelly Swanick. However, the ball just creeped over the goal line for an unassisted goal.
The Golden Rams put some pressur on the Red Hawks right out of the gates in the second half. However, they could never quite capitalize on their chances.
Swanick made three saves in the win. Zarefoss, a senior playing in her final home game at Vonnie Gros Field, made four saves in the loss.