July 5, 2007

PHILADELPHIA - The Saint Joseph's women's lacrosse team had a productive year of development, posting a 7-9 record as head coach Denise Roessler looks to take the program to the next level.

The Hawks opened up the season with high hopes and a big win at Wagner. Defeating the Seahawks 12-6, the Hawks proved that junior Christina Colangelo, sophomore Jessica Westlake and freshman Jenna Martino were going to be strong scoring threats this season. Colangelo scored five goals on the day while Martino added four in her first collegiate game.

Despite suffering a tough loss to Drexel, SJU bounced back to defeat Villanova, 13-7, and Robert Morris, 10-6, bringing its record to 3-1. In the two victories, Westlake notched five goals and two assists, while Martino added six goals. Colangelo and Lindsey-Kate McCool helped keep up the offensive pace, each scoring three goals, along with four assists and one assist respectively.

The Hawks' winning streak was cut short with a 15-7 loss to George Mason, but Saint Joseph's was able to squeeze in another win before the end of March with a home victory over Long Island, 19-4. Nine different Hawks combined for the 19 goals, including Ashley Brennan (2), Colangelo (3), Kelly Huether, Kristina Jaggers (2), Martino (2), McCool (3), Abby Renninger (2), Westlake (2), and Karen Wiley (2).

The beginning of April saw SJU hit a four-game losing skid, with a loss to Rutgers, as well as conference rivals Richmond and St. Bonaventure and a heartbreaker to Duquesne. The Hawks got back on track with wins over Lafayette (14-6) and La Salle (14-7) but lost three more as the end of April approached, falling 9-1 at George Washington, 13-5 at Lehigh and 9-5 at Massachusetts. Saint Joseph's pulled out a hard-earned win in their last game of the season, defeating Temple, 11-8, on Finnesey Field but fell short of a postseason berth.

Newcomer Suzy Herlihy proved invaluable in goal this season, finishing the year with 152 saves and a .517 save percentage. Herlihy's save percentage and goals against average (8.69) ranked her ninth in the nation and second in the Atlantic 10 in both categories.

Although the Hawks lose a strong senior class this year, next year's squad is expected to be promising, as they return strong leadership and all seven of their top scorers.