Box Score

PHILADELPHIA – On a day where the La Salle field hockey program honored its three seniors, it was a freshman that provided all the offense. Freshman Colleen Kempf scored the first two goals of her collegiate career to help the Explorers past Saint Joseph's, 2-1, on Sunday afternoon at DeVincent Field.

"I was pleased with the adjustments that we made after halftime to come out and play a consistent and hard fought second half," head coach Michelle Marks said. "Mariel did a great job of setting up goals for Colleen who did an excellent job capitalizing and giving us the win. It was a great team effort today and it puts us in a good position going into our last regular season conference games."
 
The victory put La Salle (7-9) in sole possession of fourth place in the Atlantic 10 with a 2-2 record, one game ahead of Lock Haven with two to play. The top four teams in the A-10 qualify for the conference tournament, held on November 4-5 at St. Joe's Ellen Ryan Field.
 
A La Salle win over Saint Louis on Friday or Richmond on Sunday would clinch a berth into the tournament.
 
An evenly played first half resulted in a scoreless tie at the half and the score remained knotted until the 49^th minute.
 
After receiving a pass from sophomore Olivia Shoemaker, classmate Mariel Papa sent a cross to Kempf on the far post. Kempf gathered and deposited the ball in the cage to give the Explorers a 1-0 lead. It was the first goal of her career.
 
Nearly five minutes later, the two connected once again for a goal that would turn out to be important. Papa sent a hard cross that Kempf deflected into the goal to make the score, 2-0.
 
The insurance would be needed when Saint Joseph's Therese Doyle scored with 26 seconds to play. La Salle held on during the final seconds of play to preserve the victory.
 
Redshirt freshman Lisa Shaffer made 11 saves, including eight in the first half. Freshman Olivia Leaman and sophomore Jessica Deaner had defensive saves.
 
Saint Joseph's (5-10, 0-4 A-10) held a 17-12 advantage in shots and a 10-4 lead in corners. SJU goalkeeper Liz Messaros stopped three shots.
 
The Explorers recognized seniors Becca Freed, Lindsay Fry and Katelyn Haney in a pre-game ceremony.
 
La Salle will host Saint Louis on Friday in its final home game of the season. The game will be video streamed live through GoExplorers.com and GoExplorers.tv, the first field hockey broadcast in program history.