FLASH POINTS

• SFU picks up fist CWPA victory of the season
• Red Flash erase 7-2, and 8-3 deficits in win
• Kelly Fehr (Erie, Pa/Villa Maria Academy) scores four times to lead SFU
• Red Flash score six times on power play

Box Score

BLOOMINGTON, IND.- Emily Wickenheiser (Mechanicsburg, Pa/Cumberland Valley) scored her third goal of the game as time expired as Saint Francis stormed back from a 7-2 deficit, scoring the final four goals of the game to defeat George Washington 11-10 in the Collegiate Water Polo Association Tournament (CWPA) first round.
 
The win advances Saint Francis to play the #7 Michigan Wolverines tonight at 6 p.m., as regular-season champions, the Wolverines received a first-round bye.
 
Kelly Fehr (Erie, Pa/Villa Maria Academy) led the offense with four goals, including a pair of power-play goals. Emily Wickenheiser (Mechanicsburg, Pa/Cumberland Valley) added three, including the final two goals inside the final minute of play, both coming on the man advantage. Defensively, Aimee Baur (North Wales, Pa/North Penn) led the way with a pair of steals, while Kate Wilke (Burbank, Calif./Burroughs) was credited with five saves but made several huge defensive plays throughout the game, especially late.
 
George Washington struck first, scoring 42 seconds into the match and made it 2-0 minutes later, scoring on the power play after Fehr was excluded. The freshman got that goal back, scoring her first of four on the day on the power play to cut into the GW lead. The Colonials answered back, scoring three straight, including two by Scarlett Hallahan to take a 5-1 lead. Fehr scored an even-strength goal to make it 5-2 only to see GW answer back with a late tally to lead 6-2 after one quarter.
 
The defenses took over in the second quarter, with George Washington scoring the only goal of the quarter. GW goalie Samantha Runyon was credited with two of her three saves in the quarter as the Colonials led 7-2 at the half.
 
SFU and GW traded goals early in the third as Erin O'Neill (Landsdale, Pa/North Penn) snuck one just inside the near post for the Red Flash. After the GW tally, the Red Flash began to chip away at the 8-3 deficit. Kelly Fehr (Erie, Pa/Villa Maria Academy) notched her third goal of the game on the power play and Missy McCreary (Altadena, CA/LaSalle (Citrus College)) added an even-strength goal to make it 8-5. A Colonial goal brought the lead back out to four at 9-5 before Aimee Baur (North Wales, Pa/North Penn) scored with just two seconds left in the quarter to make it 9-6 GW heading into the fourth.
 
The Red Flash carried that momentum into the fourth quarter, where SFU forced five George Washington exclusions, two turnovers and got a pair of Wilke saves. Erin O'Neill (Landsdale, Pa/North Penn) made it a two-goal game on an even-strength goal to make it 9-7, after Jacqueline Bywater scored to make it 10-7, Saint Francis kicked it into a higher gear. Wickenheiser scored her first of three fourth-quarter power play goals to make it 10-8. Fehr capitalized on another GW penalty to net her fourth of the game and third on the power-play to make it 10-9 with just over four minutes left. The SFU defense continually provided stops and steals late, holding the Colonials scoreless over the final 6:35 of the match. After GW's fourth exclusion of the quarter, Wickenheiser snuck a shot top-shelf and under the crossbar to tie the score at 10 with 56 seconds to go. Both teams would get stops on their next possessions, prompting a GW timeout with 35 seconds remaining. The Red Flash knocked down a GW shot from distance and pushed in transition. With five seconds remaining, Scarlett Hallahan was called for a penalty. On the ensuing power play, the ball worked its way back to Wickenheiser, whose shot with a second remaining found its way over the out-stretched arm of Runyon and into the back right corner of the net as the buzzer sounded.
 
The Red Flash out shot the Colonials 18-16, but GW had a 15-14 edge in shots on goal. The big difference was the Red Flash cashing in on six of 14 power-play opportunities and SFU outscoring the Colonials 9-3 in the second half.
 
The victory moves SFU to 11-19 on the season and marks the first CWPA victory of the season for the Red Flash. George Washington drops to 13-17 on the season and will face the loser of Harvard and Indiana, the 4/5 match-up on Saturday morning.