SJU Athletics Photos

PHILADELPHIA, PA (09/19/01) - The Saint Joseph's field hockey team tallied a pair of first half goals and then iced the game with a late score en route to a 3-0 win over visiting Lehigh. The win pushed SJU's winning streak to four games and improved the squad's record to 4-1, the Mountain Hawks slipped to 0-7. Junior Kelly Butler collected assists on all three Hawk goals. "It was refreshing to return to competition after a long layoff," said SJU head coach Joan Broderick. The Hawks controlled play early in the contest and broke onto the scoreboard early in the first half. Junior Kathy Sokalski tallied the first goal at the 30:21 mark on a penalty corner. SJU went with a slightly unusual look on the set play as Junior Aly Dankovitch pushed the ball off the corner. After Butler set the ball Sokalski tried to lift the ball, but instead of getting the ball up it stayed low and snuck through the mMountain Hawk defense and into the cage for a 1-0 lead. The goal was Sokalski's fourth of the season. Ten minutes later at the 21:38 mark, the Hawks would connect again on a corner for a 2-0 advantage. This time it was Sokalski with the push, while Butler set. Sophomore Amie Schmoltze then stepped up and drove home her fourth goal of the season. Shortly after the goal, Lehigh would change goalkeepers with Bryn Murphy replacing Margo Smith in the cage. Now with a seemingly comfortable lead in hand, SJU settled back and Lehigh picked up the pace. The Mountain Hawks earned seven penalty corners and sprayed seven shots on Goal but senior Lauren Bradley was up to the task collecting six saves. SJU led at intermission 2-0. In the second half it was again Lehigh which dictated play early. LU then received a huge break as Brett Dymarczyk (high stick) and Dankovitch (tripping) were both sent off with yellow cards in a span of 30 seconds early in the second stanza. A yellow card warrants a minimum five minute penalty and SJU was forced to play two men down for a stretch of 8:15. Playing shorthanded the Hawk defense proved to be up to the task. Tightening up, the Hawks forced Lehigh to play around the circle, but not up the middle. The mountain Hawks best opportunity to score came on a penalty corner, senior Katie Helder made a critical defensive save on the line to preserve SJU's 2-0 lead. "We really tightned up and showed our toughness defensively," assessed Broderick. The Hawks finally iced the game on a late goal by Dymarczyk. Playing in her first game of the season due to a leg injury, she took a pass from Butler near the top of the circle, spun and smacked it into the cage. The goal was the 17th of her career, tying her with Dani Bleam (1992-95) for tenth on the Hawks all-time list. Bradley turned in another outstanding effort in goal and earned her second straight shutout. She has now gone a span of 188:45 without surrendering a goal. Butler's three helpers fell one shy of the school record set by Bleam in 1995. Current Hawk assistant coach Siobhan Leavy and Carly Pasceri are the last SJU players to collect three assists in a game. Both accomplished the feat against Hofstra two years ago to the day in 1999. One additional note, SJU improved its record to 4-2 against its former mentor Michele Finegan. The winningest coach in school history (53 wins), Finegan coached SJU for six seasons from 1990-95. She led the team to the Atlantic 10 title and the program's first-ever national ranking in 1995 before moving on to Lehigh. The Hawks return to the field on Friday, when the squad travels to Georgetown for a 3:30 contest. On Sunday, the Hawks play host to Rutgers at noon.