LORETTO, Pa. (Oct. 15, 2010) –Junior David Butler (Baltimore, Md./Loyola Blakefield) (Baltimore, Md. / Loyola Blakefield) scored his first goal of the year in the 93^rd minute to lift the Saint Francis men's soccer team to a come-from-behind 2-1 victory over first-place Sacred Heart on Friday night in Fairfield, Conn.

The Red Flash improved to 8-3-1 overall, and 3-0-1 in the Northeast Conference. SFU, which is now tied with Sacred Heart for first place in the Northeast Conference, will head to Fairleigh Dickinson for a 1 p.m. contest on Sunday. Saint Francis is off to its best start in program history, and is in first place after four league games for the first time in school history.

Senior co-captain Patrick Fleming (Dunedin, New Zealand/Bayfield) (Dunedin, New Zealand) led the way once again, contributing a game-tying goal in the 68^th minute, and also assisted on the game-winner. Fleming, who entered the week ranked 11^th in the nation in points (19), added three points to bring his total to 22 on the season.

Sophomore goalkeeper Daniel Valcicak (Herndon, Va./Gonzaga College) (Herndon, Va. / Gonzaga College) stopped five shots for his sixth win of the season.

“This is a great win to comeback from down a goal,” said Saint Francis head coach Michael Casper. “We did this against a good team at a difficult place to play, and it is a tremendous accomplishment by our guys. We showed great heart and belief, and I am proud of our team. Now we need to get ready for another stiff test in Fairleigh Dickinson.”

The Pioneers, who entered the day in sole possession of first place in the Northeast Conference, opened the game's scoring to take a 1-0 lead. Marcello Castro had the opportunity off of a free kick, and put a soft bender into the left side from 19 yards out to make it 1-0 at 28 minutes, 2 seconds.

Sacred Heart (8-3-1, 3-1-1 NEC) took a 1-0 lead into halftime, and held a 6-5 advantage in shots.

Fleming would score his team-leading seventh goal of the season off a free kick from 30 yards out to make it 1-1 at 67:59.

For the second time in as many games, senior co-captain Tyler Hibbs (St. Catherine, Canada/Governor Simcoe) (St. Catherine, Canada / Governor Simcoe) was the last line of defense in making a defensive save. His stop came up big as it proved to be the difference between defeat and helping the Red Flash make their way to overtime.

Butler wouldn't take long to lift Saint Francis to its biggest win of the season. Fleming attempted another free kick that was deflected into the goal for Butler's first goal in 17 games.

Sacred Heart held an 18-10 advantage in shots for the game. Both teams had three corner kicks, and SFU had 13 fouls against 11 for the Pioneers.

For periodic men's soccer updates and other Red Flash news, follow Director of Athletic Communications Bob Volkert on Twitter at SFUVolkert.

Game Notes: Senior Patrick Fleming (Dunedin, New Zealand/Bayfield) now has seven goals and eight assists on the season. His eight assists are tied for second-most for a single season in program history.