Field Hockey suffers its first conference loss of the season against Saint Joseph’s University

The University of Richmond field hockey team lost 7-0 against No. 6  Saint Joseph’s University on Oct. 18.

The Spiders came into the game with a clean 4-0 conference record, which they were looking to expand upon. However, the Hawks proved to be a major challenge to overcome. 

UR held the line against SJU’s aggressive offense in the first period. The Hawks had their first goal attempt in the second minute of play, but redshirt junior goalkeeper Kristen Rake picked up the save. 

SJU drew the first penalty corner of the game just a little over a minute later, but Rake saved the shot once again. 

The only action the first period saw after that was a heavy amount of substitutions, with the teams cumulatively substituting players 16 times in the period.  

The Hawks started the second period with a goal attempt in the 19th minute of play, but UR successfully defended SJU’s effort. 

Four minutes later, SJU made another goal attempt but were denied yet again. However, the Hawks’ efforts finally paid off when they took advantage of a penalty corner a minute later, taking a 1-0 lead over the Spiders. 

SJU drew another penalty corner in the 27th minute of play, but the shot went high. The Hawks’ persistent offense resulted in another goal attempt a minute later, but UR’s defense persevered. 

Seconds later, the Hawks scored off of another penalty corner, leading the Spiders 2-0 into the second half of the game. 

The Spiders went into the third period eager for a shot attempt, which they had yet to manage. 

However, the Hawks were prepared to continue their heavy control of the ball. With only a minute down on the clock in the third period, SJU scored its third goal of the game, putting more pressure on UR to put points on the board. 

The Hawks continued to barrel past the Spiders, scoring a fourth goal just three minutes later. 

UR was getting more frustrated as the seconds ticked by. 

“Everything was kind of going downhill,” sophomore forward Valen Luna Paratore said after the game. 

The Spiders continued to face challenges as SJU scored again less than two minutes later. The third period took a dim turn for UR as it struggled to keep a hold of the ball. 

SJU drew a penalty corner with five minutes remaining in the period, but its shot went wide. However, their success continued three minutes later when the Hawks stole the ball in the circle and scored their sixth goal of the game. 

SJU drew a penalty corner two minutes into the fourth period, but the shot was saved by Rake. The Hawks had a chance at another corner seconds later, but the attempt fell short again. 

SJU was able to capitalize off of its third penalty corner seven minutes later, continuing to expand its lead over UR. 

The Spiders fought to keep the Hawks out of the scoring circle for the remainder of the game. SJU managed one shot attempt in the 60th minute of play, but Rake saved the shot. 

The buzzer sounded a minute later, condemning UR to its first conference loss. The game was void of a shot attempt by the Spiders, a stark comparison to Hawk’s 22 attempts. 

“Losing 7-0 against a top team of our conference is hard,” Paratore said. “It was frustrating, but I think we need to learn from games like this again. We’re already in the playoffs and we’re going to face these teams again.”

The field hockey team is staying in Philadelphia for the weekend. Its next game will be at the University of Pennsylvania at 12 p.m. on Oct. 20. UPenn will offer the Spiders a break from conference play. The Quakers currently have a 3-8 record. 

Contact lifestyle editor Abigail Finney at abigail.finney@richmond.edu.