St. Joe’s wins fifth-straight A-10 field hockey title, punches its ticket for the NCAA Tournament
It was a familiar scenario for the Hawks, but the journey to this point was anything but typical this season.
St. Joseph’s only had two shots on goal in Saturday’s Atlantic 10 field hockey championship game.
That’s all the Hawks needed.
St. Joe’s won its fifth consecutive A-10 title, beating host Richmond, 2-0, to clinch an automatic berth in the NCAA Tournament.
Milou Kluyt, the hero of Thursday’s double-overtime semifinal win over VCU, notched the game’s opening goal off a penalty corner with 10 minutes, 21 seconds to go in the first quarter. It was the junior from the Netherlands’ third goal of the tournament, and Emily Tammaro and Talya Harvey notched assists. Ava Smith chipped in an insurance goal on an empty net with 1:03 to go.
Overall, third-seeded St. Joe’s outshot second-seeded Richmond, 7-2.
After putting the Hawks (11-9, 4-2 A-10) on the board, Kluyt, the A-10 defensive player of the year, then helped anchor a tough defense, even as desperation grew for the Spiders (12-8, 5-1). Paige Kieft, the grad transfer from Maryland, saved Richmond’s lone shot on goal.
» READ MORE: St. Joseph’s is playing the role of tortoise in the race to another NCAA Tournament appearance
St. Joe’s was in the A-10 title game for the 10th straight season, but this was a new-look roster for fourth-year coach Hannah Prince. A season after reaching the NCAA championship game, the first St. Joe’s team in any sport to do so, Prince had to retool with nine freshmen and transfers, including Kieft. This season was the first under Prince that the team had lost more than one conference game, and a midseason four-game skid included a regular-season 2-0 loss to Richmond.
But just weeks after that loss, St. Joe’s got revenge, and now it’s back in the NCAA Tournament. Now, the Hawks will wait to learn their opponent for the tournament, which begins with Wednesday’s opening round, in Sunday night’s selection show (10 p.m., NCAA.com).