‘We’ve worked really hard to get to where we are,” St. Joseph’s Lily Santi on 6-0 Atlantic 10 Conference victory versus Richmond

It took St. Joe’s under a minute to score the first of its six goals Friday at Ellen Ryan Field.

“I always like to say, like, don’t play not to lose,” junior Lily Santi said after the game. “I feel like we kind of have that mentality.”

Santi, of Shore Regional in New Jersey, scored the first goal and added another one in the fourth quarter to help lift the Hawks to a definitive 6-0 shutout versus Atlantic 10 competitor Richmond. St. Joe’s is 7-3 and 3-0 in A-10. Richmond is 5-5 and 2-1 in the league.

“Even though we had a few points on the board, we still wanted more,” she said.

Knowing what your teammate is thinking is an attribute found among strong teams. And Santi said she knew Manu Ghigliotti, of the Global School, Argentina, was driving down the left and getting ready to send the ball across the cage.

“So, I just kind of wanted to be off the back post to clean up anything,” Santi said. “It came off the goalie and I saw it, so I got down and swiped it in.”

The Hawks netted two more in the first. Hailey Bitters, grad student from Delmar, Delaware, scored off a rebound, too, and tipped in the ball.

Freke Van Tilburg, a defender who can find lanes in traffic to relieve pressure, demonstrated why corners mattered. The Breda, Netherlands student powered a ball toward the cage, where her teammate Celeste Smits finished it making it 3-0.

“I think, you know, we’ve worked really hard to get to where we are,” Santi said. “It’s always been a goal of ours to be top 10. And this past week, we got that.”

St. Joe’s is ranked No. 10 in Division I.

The Spiders held St. Joe’s to no goals in the second quarter. And then Ghigliotti’s only goal in the third. She scored on a corner.

Richmond tried to power up its energy after halftime to match the Hawks, but their batteries slowly faded to low-power mode. St. Joe’s leadership was able to counter their intensity retaking the game’s pace.

Van Tilburg again assisted on a corner after a give and go at the top of the circle with Ghigliotti, who finished the play.

Nearing the end of the fourth, Santi was still on a tear to score more. She took a shot that looked like a bank shot on a pool table. The ball hit the goalie’s right post on the inside and then went into the left pocket of the cage.

“I got the rebound off the goalie, and saw space on my forehand,” she said. “So, I kind of just curled out and took a back space shot. It hit off the side post and then angled into the left corner. I started cheering before I even knew if it went in. I kind of got nervous, then I was like, alright, cool.”

The final goal was a two on one, where sophomore Aiden Drabick, of Wissahickon, and senior Julianna Smyth, of Downingtown West, took on Spiders’ goalie senior Erika Latta (Trinity Episcopal, Virginia). Smyth tallied the final point.

“I think staying composed and not getting ahead of ourselves, it really helps,” Santi said. “And the last game we won 6-nothing. And this game, we won 6-nothing. So, we can’t really get ahead of ourselves. And don’t over or underestimate any team.”

The Hawks played a consistent game, said St. Joe’s Head Coach Hannah Prince.

“I think our leadership showed,” she said. “While they did come at us a little harder in the third, we were under more pressure, I think we rebounded quickly from it and were able to, you know, execute some good tactics. Our penalty corner defense was able to be solid, and then we kind of gained the momentum back like we had it in the first half.”

The circle’s edge is where Prince wants to see her players execute a “have a go mentality,” where they can “use their skill to try to create space to shoot,” she said.

“In general, though, I like to be a passing team outside of, sort of, the attack 25,” Prince said. “But once we’re in there, I love that we do have players who are skilled enough to one, create space to shoot; two, to be able to earn penalty corners because obviously that’s just more goal-scoring opportunities.”

St. Joe’s game against Richmond was its fifth shutout of the season.

“Today was a big learning experience for us,” said Richmond Head Coach Jamie Montgomery. “I hope we can take away some learning, in what was a tough defeat.”

Hawks: 6