Lost in The Hawk’s basketball preview hoopla, the fall season at St. Joe’s officially culminated with the final games for men’s soccer and field hockey taking place last weekend, under vastly different circumstances.
Field hockey’s season once again ended in the Atlantic 10 Championships, the ninth straight season the Hawks have qualified for the final four in the conference without taking home the title.
This year’s culprit was cross-town rival and third-seeded Temple, who defeated the Hawks, 3-0, to finish their season. In the other semifinal, top-seeded Richmond defeated hosts Massachusetts, 2-1 in overtime, and triumphed over Temple in the title game, 3-0.
The Owls jumped on the Hawks early, as Kasey Ruth’s goal just 6:22 in put the Owls on track for an upset.
Things quieted down until after halftime, when Charise Young capitalized on the Hawks’ need to attack by finishing off a two-on-one with Katie Briglia to put the Owls two goals to the good. Ruth added a second goal in the last minute of play to cap the scoring.
The Hawks defeat wasn’t for lack of chances, as they launched 11 shots to Temple’s seven, eliciting nine saves from Temple goalkeeper Sarah Dalrymple. Jen Wrublesky, ’11, led the way with three shots on goal. The Hawks stepped up the attack in desperation in the second half, finding the cage with six shots.
The men’s soccer team’s season also came to a merciful end with a 3-0 loss on senior day to St. Louis. The team’s four seniors—Bryan Benedict, ’10, Joe Fluehr, ’10, Travis Gast, ’10, and Jason Lewis, ’10—were honored before the game. All four seniors saw action in the game, with Gast and Lewis in the starting lineup, and goalkeeper Fluehr getting time as an outfield player in the second half for the first appearance of his collegiate career.
The Billikens took the honor of opening the scoring, however, as an Alex Sweetin corner in the 23rd minute went off a St. Joe’s defender and into the net. The Hawks (0-17-0, 0-9-0) couldn’t muster much going forward in the first 45 minutes with just three shots wide of the goal, and carried a one-goal deficit into halftime.
St. Louis (12-6-0, 7-2-0 A-10) doubled their lead soon after the break when Mike Roach chested in a loose ball in the 56th minute. The final score was tallied by Beau Bellomy, who caught St. Joe’s goalkeeper Andrew D’Ottavi, ’13, out and snuck one past him in the 90th minute.
The Hawks were again dominated on the statsheet, as they were outshot 18-9 and took four fewer corners, 6-2, than the Billikens.
The loss dropped the Hawks to 0-17-0, ensuring their worst season in the 51-year history of the program. According to the NCAA’s men’s soccer RPI rankings as of Nov. 9, the Hawks finished as 196th out of 204. They were one of only two Division I teams to go winless, along with Albany (NY), but the Great Danes did manage three draws against just 13 losses. The 17 losses for the Hawks ties them with 204th ranked Manhattan for worst in the nation.
-Matthew De George ’10
James Hill
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