RICHMOND, Va.—Top-seeded VCU earned its first-ever Atlantic 10 Conference Field Hockey title Saturday, beating No. 3 Saint Joseph's, 2-0 at Cary Street Field.
 
The nationally-ranked Rams (9-0) earn the Atlantic 10's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. VCU is No. 18 in the latest NFHCA poll. It marks the first time since 2016 that a team other than Saint Joseph's (5-3) has won the A-10 Field Hockey championship.
 
The game was scoreless through the third quarter, with each team registering five shots in the first half, none of which got past goalkeepers VCU's Sasha Elliott and SJU's Robin Bleekemolen.
 
VCU's Lonica McKinney broke the scoreless tie 1:53 into the fourth quarter when she tallied her second goal of the season on a rebound off of a blocked shot.  
 
Georgia Carr-Brown provided a cushion at 57:44, putting VCU up 2-0 on a deflection on a long ball from the right wing from Maite Sturm.
 
Elliott was named the championship's most outstanding player for making seven saves and posting shutouts in two games. She was also named to the All-Championship Team along with McKinney and Sturm. McKinney led the game with four shots and Sturm tallied three.
 
Cassidy Atchison had a pair of shots to lead SJU. Sara Hayes, who also tallied two shots Saturday and registered a pair of goals in the Hawks' semifinal win, was also named to the All-Championship Team. Bleekemolen, who also was named All-Championship, made five saves Saturday and totaled 14 saves in two championship games.
 
VCU led in shots, 9-7 and shots on goal, 7-5. The teams were even in saves (5-5) and fouls (41-41) and the Hawks held a 3-0 advantage in penalty corners.
 
VCU's Janne Wetzel and Litiana Field were also named to the All-Championship Team as were Emily Peters and Anna Miller of Saint Joseph's. Richmond's Tess Keppel and Lock Haven's Martina Spangenberg also earned All-Championship spots.