POSTSEASON NOTES (pdf)

LORETTO, Pa. (Nov. 14, 2014) -- The Saint Francis U men's soccer team hosts the Northeast Conference Soccer Championships in Loretto, Pa. for the first time since 2003. The No. 1 seeded Red Flash faces No. 4 seed LIU Brooklyn at 4 p.m. on the DeGol Field.
 
Last night at the annual NEC men's soccer banquet head coach Michael Casper received the NEC Coach of the Year following a record breaking 12 win season, his squad clinching the programs first NEC regular season title, bringing the playoffs to Loretto, Pa. Earlier this season, Casper became the most prolific coach in SFU men's soccer history surpassing 12-year coach Bill Furjanic. Casper has totaled 70 wins in a mere eight seasons at the helm of the Red Flash.

Ryan Byers (Scottdale, Pa./Southmoreland), Pablo Medina (Monterrey, Mexico/IMG Academies), Francis de Vries (Christchurch, New Zealand/Cashmere), and Mitch Kavlick (Erie, Pa./Erie McDowell) received All-NEC First Team honors, while newcomer Conner Rezende (Davie, Fla. /University School at Nova Southeastern) earned the lone All-NEC Second Team recognition.
 
LAST TIME vs. LIU BROOKLYN

LORETTO, Pa. (Oct. 19, 2014) – The Saint Francis U men's soccer team staged its biggest comeback in a decade by erasing a two-goal deficit to overcome LIU Brooklyn, 3-2, Sunday evening at DeGol Field.
Brice Merwine opened the scoring in the 19th minute for the Blackbirds (3-9; 2-1-0). Naeem Charles took a set piece near the right corner and passed it to Merwine who beat Saint Francis U (9-5-1; 3-1-0) keeper, Andrew Garcia (Sicklerville, N.J./Timber Creek Regional), right.

Isak Doumbia took a set piece 30-yards out in the 26th minute for LIU. Doumbia passed the ball to Tanner Sica who put the ball past Garcia's right, extending the Blackbirds lead to 2-0.
Despite being down 2-0 at the half, the Red Flash held a four to one advantage in corner kicks and a five to three advantage in shots, a trend that would continue in the match.

Ryan Byers (Scottdale, Pa./Southmoreland) broke open the scoring for the Red Flash in the 68th minute when he received a corner kick from senior forward Pablo Medina (Monterrey, Mexico/IMG Academies). Byers beat the Blackbirds keeper, Logan Keys, with a header left.
Saint Francis U did not waste time finding the equalizer. In the 69th minute Medina crossed the ball into the box off of a corner kick where he found Calvin Rezende (Davie, Fla. /University School at Nova Southeastern). Calvin deflected the ball left past the Blackbirds keeper.

Following Medina's two assist performance he now moves into a tie for fourth with 8 assists on the season. Medina entered the week ranked 12 in the nation.

The Red Flash took the lead in the 79th minute when Byers scored his second goal of the evening. Byers touched the ball past the Blackbird defender, after receiving a pass from Conner Rezende (Davie, Fla. /University School at Nova Southeastern), and beat the keeper, slotting the ball in the left corner of the net.