BOX SCORE BUFFALO, N.Y. (Sept. 23, 2012) – The Saint Francis University men's soccer team dropped its fourth consecutive contest 3-0 Sunday afternoon to Canisius, its final non-conference game of the season.

“We lost our composure today and dug ourselves a big hole we weren't able to get out of,” head coach Michael Casper said. “The guys didn't give up and kept fighting until the end but we have to be much smarter. This will be a real test now to see how we handle adversity as we prepare for conference play.”

Following a scoreless first half, the Red Flash (2-4-2) were dealt an unfortunate hand in the second half of action. Both senior Tamas Maffey-Stumpe (Cairns, Queensland, Australia/Mossman State) and sophomore Bryan Causey (Virginia Beach, Va./Salem) were issued red cards at the same point in the match, forcing Saint Francis to play two-men down for the remainder of the game. Due to the issuance of the red cards, a penalty kick was awarded to the Golden Griffins (7-1-2). Canisius' Will Hudson took the penalty shot and scored to put his team up 1-0 six minutes into the second half.

After the Golden Griffins went up 2-0, Hudson was awarded another penalty kick in the 76^th minute of play, scoring successfully once more for his third goal of the game. SFU did its best playing with just eight men, excluding starting keeper Daniel Valcicak (Herndon, Va./Gonzaga College). The Flash put up 13 shots in the second half, six of which came within the last 10 minutes of play. In all, Saint Francis forced Canisius keeper Kareem Gray to make four stops on the day.

Valcicak got the call for his seventh start of the season and made five saves, all coming in period one. Collectively, the Red Flash put up 14 shots in the game as Wayne Tiller (Magnolia, Del./Caesar Rodney), Makala Hairston (Baltimore, Md./Calvert Hall College) and Nick Kolarac (Pittsburgh, Pa./West Allegheny) led the way with three apiece.

Saint Francis opens Northeast Conference action this weekend Sept. 28 with a 3 p.m. matchup against Bryant in Smithfield, R.I. That contest can be viewed live on NEC Front Row.