Nov. 5, 2009

PHILADELPHIA - Saint Joseph's junior forward Lauren Sawyer and freshman goalkeeper Christine Neal were honored for their play during the 2009 season as both earned Atlantic 10 women's soccer accolades. Sawyer is the 17th Hawk to earn Atlantic 10 All-Conference accolades, while Neal is just the sixth rookie, and first keeper, to earn All-Rookie Team honors for Saint Joseph's.

Starting all 19 games for Saint Joseph's, Sawyer proved to be a speedy weapon on the wing, amassing a career-best four goals, to go with three assists, for 11 points to earn All-Conference Second Team honors. Tallying 31 shots during the season, Sawyer led the Hawks with three game-winning goals, tied for the team lead in assists, placed second in points, tied for second in goals and ranked third in shots (31). Next fall, she will enter her final season just eight points shy of 10th place among SJU's all-time career scoring leaders.

Earning 16 starts between the pipes as a rookie, Neal was solid for the Hawks, posting a 1.14 goals-against average, to go with a team-best 63 saves. Despite finishing with a 4-9-3 record, Neal's performance was greater than her final numbers showed as she tied for seventh in the A-10 in saves and shutouts and finished fifth in goals-against average. Her 1.14 goals against average was also the second-best single-season mark in SJU history, trumped only by Nicole DiEnna's 1.06 goals-against mark during the 2004 season.

As a team, Saint Joseph's finished the 2009 season with a 7-9-3 overall record, and went 4-6-1 in the Atlantic 10 to finish tied for eighth.