AMHERST, Mass. — No. 4 Saint Joseph's scored three goals in quick succession to open the game and opened up an eight-goal lead to defeat No. 1 Richmond, 19-8, and in the Atlantic 10 Lacrosse Championship semifinals Friday afternoon at Garber Field.

The Hawks (10-6) advance to the A-10 Championship final, which is scheduled for Sunday, at noon, versus the winner between No. 2 Massachusetts and No. 3 Davidson.

Lauren Figura, Bridget Cerciello and Sam McGee scored back-to-back-to back goals in a 2:14 span, less than four minutes into the match. Sophia Kolkka then scored twice in just over a minute and Saint Joseph's had a 5-0 lead nine minutes in. Richmond (11-2) got on the board at 16:15 on a goal from Nicole Concannon.

Figura scored three more times before the end of the half, part of five more SJU goals in the first half, giving the Hawks a 10-3 halftime lead following two additional UR tallies by Sam Geiersbach and Lindsey Frank.

Geiersbach and Frank scored twice early in the second half for Richmond to cut the lead to six at 11-5, but Saint Joseph's continued the offensive push and took an 11-goal lead on consecutive Cerciello goals. The margine never dropped below double digits after that.

The SJU defense, anchored by goalkeeper Melissa Semkiw made nine saves and kept Richmond to 17 shots on goal. The teams were even with eight caused turnovers apiece and fairly even in draw controls with SJU holding a narrow 15-14 lead.

Geiersbach and Frank provided most of the Spider scoring, recording three goals each. Cerciello, McGee, Figura and Kolkka each had four goals for the Hawks, and Stephanie Kelly had seven assists.