Saint Joseph’s hadn’t beaten Richmond since 2016. Before that? It was 2009.

But four Hawks — Lauren Figura, Sophia Kolkka, Bridget Cerciello and Sam McGee — scored four goals each as Saint Joseph’s toppled No. 11 Richmond 19-8 in one of two Atlantic 10 tournament semifinals on Friday.

Stephanie Kelly registered a career-high seven assists, giving her 45 on the season — surpassing the single-season program record of 42 set by Francesca Donato in 2019. Kelly is just one point away from tying Donato’s single-season points mark of 89, also set in 2019.

No. 20 UMass, the tournament host, defeated Davidson 14-7 in the other semifinal. Stephanie Croke and Kaitlyn Cerasi each scored three times.

The Hawks and the Minutewomen play for the conference’s automatic qualifier into the NCAA tournament on Sunday at 12 p.m. Eastern on ESPN+.

Richmond, the top seed in the A-10 tournament, just couldn’t get into the flow of the game. The Hawks jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the first nine minutes and led 10-3 by halftime.

Richmond continued to trail by seven goals after Lindsey Frank scored for the Spiders, making the score 13-6. That’s when Saint Joseph’s put the game away.

Kolka, Alyssa Manley, Cerciello and McGee put together a 5-0 SJU run that made the score 18-6 with 7:11 left to play.

This game was about more than just the offense, though. Julia Pash (eight draw controls) helped the Hawks narrowly edge Richmond on draws, 15-14. Pash and the rest of the defense — Sarah Platt, Anna Seifert and the rest of the midfield — held Richmond to just 21 shots. Melissa Semkiw made nine saves.

ACC Tournament Recap

Can Syracuse and Boston College play each other every week?

The ACC powerhouses have now played three times in nine days, and two of them have been absolute thrillers. The best iteration of the rivalry might have been Friday night.

Syracuse prevailed 19-17, advancing to face North Carolina in Sunday’s conference title game, but the Orange held a big lead that Charlotte North and the Eagles quickly squashed.

Ahead 11-6 at halftime and 13-7 after Sierra Cockerille’s goal with 27:43 left to play, Syracuse let Boston College back in. Belle Smith’s 35th goal of the year came off an assist from North and kickstarted a 7-0 BC run that ended when Smith put BC ahead 14-13.

Syracuse then rebounded by scoring four of the next five goals, with Meaghan Tyrrell’s player-up tally with 8:15 remaining putting the Orange ahead 17-15.

Naturally, this was nowhere close to the end of the madness.

North scored less than a minute later, and then Smith converted an assist from Caitlynn Mossman with 3:18 to play, tying the score at 17.

With under two minutes to play, Syracuse needed a spark. Freshman attacker Emma Ward, thrust into a larger role when Emily Hawryschuk tore her ACL and then an even larger role when Megan Carney tore hers, dodged from X and waited patiently for an opening before converting the eventual winner.

CUSE WINS A THRILLER

Emma Ward scores the eventual game-winner to give @CuseWLAX the 19-17 win over @BCwlax in the ACC semis.

Ward: 5G

And the stick drop? pic.twitter.com/1y9vbmVnGu

— US Lacrosse Magazine (@USLacrosseMag) April 30, 2021

In the other ACC semifinal, North Carolina steamrolled Notre Dame 18-4 — a far cry from the one-goal game these sides played just a few weeks ago. Jamie Ortega had six goals and one assist, Katie Hoeg had one goal and six assists, and both Scottie Rose Growney and Caitlyn Wurzburger went for three goals and one assist.

In the only time UNC and Syracuse matched up this season, the Tar Heels won 17-6.

Big Ten Tournament Recap

Rutgers was giving Northwestern a run unlike any other it has experienced this spring. When Cassidy Spilis tied the score at 11 with 26:28 remaining in the second half, the Scarlet Knights were riding the high of a five-goal run that put the Wildcats on their toes.

But you can’t keep an offense like Northwestern down for long. The Big Ten’s top seed outscored Rutgers 13-3 the rest of the way en route to a 24-14 victory in one of two Big Ten semifinals. Maryland hung on to dispatch Johns Hopkins 8-7 in the other semifinal.

Big South Tournament Recap

Radford earned its first-ever Big South tournament win with a 15-14 triumph over Campbell, setting up a title-game matchup with High Point, the top-seeded host of the tournament, on Sunday. High Point dispatched Winthrop 21-8.

ACC Tournament Scores

No. 1 North Carolina 18, No. 4 Notre Dame 4
No. 2 Syracuse 19, No. 3 Boston College 17

A-10 Tournament Scores

No. 4 Saint Joseph’s 19, No. 1 Richmond 8
No. 2 UMass 14, No. 3 Davidson 7

Big South Tournament Scores

No. 1 High Point 21, Winthrop 8
No. 3 Radford 15, No. 2 Campbell 14

Big Ten Tournament Scores

No. 1 Northwestern vs. No. 4 Rutgers, 5 p.m.
No. 2 Maryland vs. No. 3 Johns Hopkins, 8 p.m.

MPSF Tournament Scores

No. 2 San Diego State vs. No. 3 Fresno State, 5 p.m.

OTHER SCORES

Jacksonville 23, Kennesaw State 4
Marist 11, Iona 10

Delaware State at Coastal Carolina, PPD