Saint Joseph’s Survive a Late Davidson Scare to Reach Another A-10 Final
Saint Joseph’s are one win from a sixth straight Atlantic 10 title, but Davidson made them earn every inch of it.
The top-seeded Hawks beat the fourth-seeded Wildcats 2-1 in Thursday’s first semifinal at Cary Street Field in Richmond, and the scoreline flatters how tight it got. Alison Buffington put Saint Joseph’s ahead inside six minutes, finishing off a feed from Kiki Bruning, and Alex Enslin doubled the lead early in the second half. At 2-0 with half an hour to play, it looked done.
It wasn’t. Davidson kept coming, and with 50 seconds left Ise Adams pulled one back to set up a frantic finish. Saint Joseph’s held on, but only just. That’s the thing about this Hawks side. They went 6-0 in the league this season and they’ve won the last five A-10 tournaments, but their overall record is 9-9. They’re beatable. Davidson nearly proved it.
They also know how to win these games, and that’s worth plenty in November. They’ve won the last five A-10 tournaments, eight of the last nine, and this is another final for a program that has made the title game its own. They’ve already beaten Davidson once this season, 5-1 in early October, and they’d beaten Richmond 3-1 and edged VCU in a shootout on the way to the top seed.
The final is Saturday at Cary Street Field against the winner of Thursday’s second semifinal between second-seeded Richmond and third-seeded VCU. Richmond won the regular-season meeting 4-1 last Friday to take the two seed, so either opponent comes in with something to prove. The winner takes the A-10’s automatic NCAA bid.
For our money, Saint Joseph’s are still the pick. They’ve got the know-how, the defence that conceded just three league goals all season, and a coach in Sam Brown who was just named A-10 Coach of the Year. But Thursday showed the gap is closing. Whoever comes through on Saturday, it won’t be a coronation.
