VALPARAISO, Ind. (Sept. 20, 2009) – Saint Francis jumped out to an early two-goal lead, and junior goalkeeper Darius Motazed (North Vancouver, Canada/Sentinel Secondary) (North Vancouver, Canada / Sentinel Secondary) stopped six shots to help lead the Red Flash to its second road win of the weekend, 2-1, at Valparaiso.
Senior Daniel Moir (Christchurch, New Zealand/Shirley Boys) (Christchurch, New Zealand / Shirley Boys) gave the Red Flash an early lead with his third goal of the season, while sophomore Parnell Hegngi (Silver Spring, MD/DeMatha Catholic) (Silver Spring, Md. / DeMatha Catholic) tallied the eventual game-winner in the 10th minute.
Saint Francis improved to 3-4 on the season with its second win of the weekend. The Red Flash earned another 2-1 win on Friday at IPFW. SFU will look to build off the weekend's success when it visits in-state rival Bucknell for a 3:30 p.m. contest on Wednesday.
The Red Flash needed very little time to gain their early advantage against the Crusaders. In the game's eighth minute, sophomore Sean O'Reilly (Front Royal,Va./Seton) (Front Royal, Va. / Seton) picked up his second assist of the season when he sent the ball into the box. Moir won the battle against a Valpo defender and fired a shot from 10 yards out that found its way into the lower right portion of the net to give SFU the 1-0 lead.
The Red Flash struck again less than three minutes later. Sophomore David Butler (Baltimore, Md./Loyola Blakefield) (Baltimore, md. / Loyola Blakefield) set up Hegngi in the middle-left portion of the field about 25 yards out. Hegngi fired a shot towards the upper left corner that struck the bottom portion of the crossbar and ricocheted into the net to put Saint Francis ahead by two goals.
Valpo finally found the net in the latter stages of the first half. Ken Perkins played a service into the box from long distance that Steve Shively flicked on with his head. The ball ended up on the forehead of Kevin Miller, who sent a header of his own past a charging Motazed from eight yards out.
The Crusaders had a golden opportunity for the equalizer just out of the halftime break, as in the 50th minute they were awarded a penalty kick after the Red Flash committed a foul in the box. However, Motazed came up big, stopping the PK as well as a well-struck shot from the angle by Roby Del Giudice three minutes later to keep the Red Flash on top.
Valpo ended the game with a 17-12 advantage in shots, and a 4-0 edge in corner kicks.
