Fahy and Semilia Net Hat-Tricks as Women's Soccer Dominates Yeshiva in HVIAC Matchup

BROOKLYN, N.Y. – Powered by hat-tricks from both sophomore Shannon Fahy (Breezy Point, N.Y./Bishop Kearney) and senior Daniela Semilia (Brooklyn, N.Y./Bishop Kearney), the St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn) women's soccer team dominated Hudson Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (HVIAC) opponent Yeshiva University enroute to an 8-0 victory on Tuesday afternoon at Calvert Vaux Park.

St. Joseph's (2-8, 2-3 HVIAC) snaps a four-game losing streak and with the win the Lady Bears move within a half game of the final spot for the season-ending conference tournament while Yeshiva (1-4, 1-1 HVIAC) has now lost three games in a row and drops into a tie with Berkeley College for third place in the HVIAC.

Fahy records her second hat trick of the season having also achieved one against Medgar Evers on September 26th while Semilia also notches the second of her career following her first which was ironically against the Maccabees last November.

Despite playing with only ten players, St. Joseph's got off to a great start setting the tone early as less than three minutes into the game junior Shannon Rom (Rockaway Point, N.Y./Bishop Kearney) took a pass from sophomore Pam Chernyakhovsky (Brooklyn, N.Y./Leon M. Goldstein) and fired a shot from 25 yards out that found its way past Maccabees goalkeeper Annie Jaffe for her first of the 2013 campaign.

The rest of the first half saw both teams have scoring opportunities with St. Joseph's holding just a 14-12 advantage in shots but neither team was able to get break through until Fahy tallied her first goal of the day receiving a pass from freshman Jamilynn McGawan (Brooklyn, N.Y.) and rocketing a shot from just inside the penalty box helping St. Joseph's build a 2-0 margin heading to intermission.

The first 20 minutes of the second stanza saw neither team score as there were limited scoring chances. However, beginning in the 66th minute of action the Lady Bears would record six goals in an 18 minute span to break open the contest.

Semilia got on the board with her first goal of the season putting a pass from Chernyakhovsky into the upper right corner of the net giving St. Joseph's a 3-0 advantage and the rout was on.

Just a little over two minutes later Semilia struck again receiving a pass from Chernyakhovsky and struck it past Jaffe to build a 4-0 lead. Chernyakhovsky was the facilitator of the offense on the day recording four assists while leading the team with her six shots on goal.

Fahy netted her second goal of the match in the 73rd minute taking a perfectly played throughball from Chernyakhovsky and bringing it herself to the goal for a 5-0 margin. Senior Christina Abbate (Brooklyn, N.Y./Bishop Kearney) got in on the action with her second goal of the year taking a nicely crossed ball from Fahy and knocking it into the back of the net to put St. Joseph's up by six.

Semilia and Fahy finished off the scoring for the Lady Bears with each securing their hat trick in the last ten minutes of the match. Fahy now leads St. Joseph's with seven goals on the year in her rookie season.

The Lady Bears dominated the action in the second half outshooting Yeshiva 13-3 and finished with a 27-15 advantage in shots.  

Abbate finished the game with three shots on goal while also recording an assist to go along with her goal. Semilia concluded the day tallying three shots on net and helped setup the Lady Bears last goal of the game by Fahy.  Senior goalkeeper Nicole Farinella (East Patchogue, N.Y./Bellport HS) made eight saves in notching her second shutout of the year.

The Maccabees were led by HVIAC Player of the Week Merav Sadan Barach who fired a match-high seven shots on goal.

St. Joseph's looks to build off this victory when they host Brooklyn College on Wednesday, October 16th at 4 p.m.