FINAL FOUR BOUND: #3 Field Hockey Downs Princeton, 1-0, to Reach National Semifinals

 Celeste Smits fired home a pass from Julia Duffhuis with just under five minutes remaining in the fourth quarter on Sunday to lead the third-ranked Saint Joseph's field hockey team past Princeton, 1-0, in the Second Round of the NCAA Division I Field Hockey Championship and into the national semifinals for the first time in program history.

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HOW IT HAPPENED
• On a picture-perfect day at a packed Ellen Ryan Field, both teams had spells of control in the first quarter, but neither could convert it into a scoring opportunity. The tactical approach continued into the second quarter, and halftime arrived without a shot being registered by either side.
• Princeton (14-6) had the game's first corner early in the third quarter, but Marith Bijkerk stopped Beth Yeager's drag flick to keep the game scoreless. Another corner ensued, and Bijkerk denied Yeager once again.
• The Tigers had two more corners early in the fourth but could not turn either into an opportunity. 
• Saint Joseph's (19-3) earned its first corner of the day with 5:08 to go in the fourth quarter, but an attempt by Duffhuis hit the shin of a Princeton player in the circle and the Hawks were awarded another corner.
• Smits, who also had an immense defensive presence in the game, inserted once again; this time, Duffhuis sent the ball wide of the cage, where Smits was waiting; she beat Princeton's Robyn Thompson low to the near side to set off a jubilant celebration in front of a majority of the assembled students in attendance.
• Princeton pulled Thompson for an extra attacker with four minutes to play, but the Hawks were able to win possession and hold enough of it to run out the clock on the most important victory a Hawk team has ever recorded on campus.
 
BEHIND THE BOX SCORE
• Bijkerk made two stops to earn the shutout, while Thompson did not register a save. 
• The Tigers held a 3-2 edge in shots and a 4-2 advantage in penalty corners. 
• Sunday's contest was the first between the two schools; the Hawks and Tigers have met in exhibition games but never in a regular season or postseason matchup until Sunday.
• The win was the 19th of the season for the Hawks, a new program record. 
• Smits and Katelyn Cocco also set program records on Sunday, playing in the 93rd game of their respective careers, surpassing Katy Benton's previous record of 92. 
• The SJU defense held Yeager, a member of the 2024 U.S. Olympic Team, without a point; it is the first game Yeager hasn't recorded at least one point since September 8. 
• The Hawks are the first Atlantic 10 program to reach the Final Four since UMass achieved the feat in 1992; later Sunday, the current UMass team topped Harvard, 1-0, to reach the semifinals as well. It is the first time the Atlantic 10 has ever sent two teams to the national semifinals in the same season.
 
UP NEXT
The Hawks will take on undefeated and top-ranked North Carolina on Friday at Phyllis Ocker Field in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Game time is set for noon.