University of Richmond Athletics
University of Richmond
#vs. Saint Joseph's
No. 20 Field Hockey Advances To Fourth-Straight A-10 Championship Final; Tops St. Joe's, 3-1
11/04/2005 | Field Hockey
Nov. 4, 2005
PHILADELPHIA, Pa. - Junior Heather Wrublesky single-handedly helped the 20th-ranked Spider field hockey squad dispose of fourth-seeded Saint Joseph's, 3-1, Friday night in the first round of the Atlantic 10 Championships. The Langhorne, Pa., native recorded the first hat trick of her career as the Spiders, who have now won 32-straight against the Atlantic 10, advanced to the Championship final game Saturday at 2 p.m. against UMass. Richmond is now 14-5 overall, while Saint Joseph's finished its season with a mark of 10-10.
Wrublesky got the Spiders on the board at the 30:21 mark when she used a brilliant pass from sophomore Shannon Taylor inside the circle. Richmond went into halftime with the 1-0 lead after outshooting the Hawks 5-3 in the first. Senior Michelle Swartz kept the 1-0 lead by turning away two of her five total saves in the first half.
Early in the second half Taylor and Wrublesky hooked up again, this time at the 37:40 mark when Taylor entered a ball into the circle allowing Wrublesky to blast it to the back right corner for her second of the game. In the 52nd minute Wrublesky added the Spiders' final goal of the game by collecting a rebound off the post.
Swartz turned away three in the second half, but gave up one with just over a minute left when SJU's Lauren Luft put an unassisted one in the cage.
Richmond, which extended its A-10 win streak to 32-straight and its current win streak to nine, will face third-seeded UMass Saturday in the Championships final at 2 p.m. The Minutewomen topped second-seeded host Temple 2-1 in overtime Friday in the first semifinal game. The Spiders opened the 2005 Atlantic 10 season by hosting UMass and winning 4-1 at Crenshaw Field. Saturday's game will mark the second-straight season the Spiders and UMass have met in the A-10 final. Last season Richmond won its third-straight A-10 title 3-1 over UMass.
