Box score
NEWARK, NJ—Saint Joseph's sophomore Mo Hawkins scored twice in the first half, lifting her team to a 2-0 road win over NJIT in non-conference women's soccer Sunday afternoon on Lubetkin Field at J. Malcolm Stadium.
Hawkins, who was a second-team all-Atlantic 10 Conference honoree as a freshman in 2010, notched her fourth and fifth goals of 2011 in Sunday's win.
The visitors from Philadelphia outshot the home team (14-7 overall and 7-1 in on-target tries). Sophomore Lauren Jancuska, the starter, and junior Christine Neal, who came on to open the second half, shared the clean sheet for the Hawks, with Jancuska recording her team's only save. NJIT's Anna Kornmuller, who was solid for all 90 minutes, stopped five shots, including several difficult ones.
Saint Joe's (5-3-2) had the better of the play throughout against the Highlanders (1-9), who were coming off their first win of the season Friday night, when they defeated Saint Peter's, 2-1.
“Our effort was not what it needed to be against a team as good as Saint Joe's,” said NJIT head coach Sergio Gonzalez, who was familiar with the Hawks from his days in the A-10 as an assistant coach at Dayton, the job he held for five years before taking the helm in Newark. “It was what I'd call a typical Sunday game, where you've played a competitive 90-minute game on Friday. We looked slow and you can't do that against a dangerous Saint Joe's team. There were patches of good stuff today, but we have to be more consistent if we're going to build on what we did Friday.”
Hawkins scored her first goal of the day seconds short of the exact midpoint of the opening half. Taking a pass from the 30, she dribbled into the box, took on and beat her defender, carried another stride and shot a 15-yarder across her body, beating NJIT's goalkeeper, Kornmuller, to the far post at 22:26.
Hawkins struck again at 33:15, accelerating past her defender onto a lead pass into the box from Morgan Duffy before beating Kornmuller, who tried to close the angle, from close range.
Saint Joseph's had a 9-4 shooting edge in the second half and likely could have added to its lead, but for some fine saves from Kornmuller and a couple of others that were close, but slightly off target.
One of NJIT's best attacks of the day ended with a close miss for Meryl Hershfield in the 59th minute. The Highlanders, who had been under pressure on defense, counterattacked and she stayed on side to receive a pass at the top of the goal area. She then beat her defender, creating a clear shot from 15 yards that went over the crossbar by a half-foot.
The Highlanders will host Delaware State in NJIT's Great West Conference opener, in a 6 pm match, Friday, October 7, on Lubetkin Field at J. Malcolm Simon Stadium. The game, which will be Delaware State's third in the GWC, will also include Senior Night ceremonies for the Highlanders, even though they have two more home games after that.
There is an 11-day gap between Saint Joseph's and Delaware State.
“All of our focus now is on Delaware State, as we get ready to start the Great West,” said Gonzalez, who has said frequently that he wants his team to be playing its best soccer once the conference season arrives. “With the time off now, we've got a good chance to get over the bumps and bruises and be refreshed for the conference.”
NJIT will play six of its last eight regular season games in the GWC before hosting the Great West Tournament from November 4 to 7.
