BOX SCORE LORETTO, Pa. (Oct. 7, 2012) – A matchup of conference-leading opponents yielded a hard-fought double overtime affair on Sunday at the Stokes Soccerplex where Saint Francis U and Penn battled to a 1-1 draw.

In the in the interleague finale for both squads, the Ivy League-front running Quakers (7-4-1) drew first blood in the 56th minute, before Tesa McKibben (Cogan Station, Pa./Montoursville) of the Northeast Conference-leading Red Flash (8-4-2) evened things up on a header with just over six minutes to play.

McKibben's 11th tally of the season came as she headed a ball served up by Alecia McNiff (Marietta, Pa./Donegal ) past Penn goalkeeper Sarah Banks, who was playing up.  After bouncing behind Bank, the ball slowly trickled into the back of the net.

“A tie is never an outcome you look for but against a very high quality team like Penn, it is a good result,” said SFU head coach Brenda van Stralen.  “I'm proud of the way our team battled back but today showed that we still have things we need to work on.  This was a great test to get ready for the rest of our conference schedule.”

Elissa Berdini scored Penn's lone goal by firing an 18-yard shot past SFU keeper Brianna Butcher (East Longmeadow, Mass./East Longmeadow) and into the top left corner of the net.  Brianna Rano picked up an assist on the scoring play.

Butcher made an even 10 stops in the match and the Quaker goal was the first that she and the Red Flash defense had allowed in 12 halves.

Banks was called upon to make four saves on the afternoon.

The Red Flash carries a light load next weekend with one game on the slate.  Saint Francis will make the short trip to Moon Township to take on in-state rival Robert Morris (1-12-2; 1-3-1 NEC) on Sunday.