BOX SCORE LORETTO, Pa. (Nov. 2, 2014) -- The Saint Francis U men's soccer team extended their winning streak to four games with a 2-1 senior day victory over their Northeast Conference foe Central Connecticut State University Blue Devils.

"I thought we played well today," said head coach Michael Casper. "The guys played hard and created a number of good scoring opportunities. Unfortunately, we didn't finish more of our chances and we allowed CCSU to stay in the match.  They played hard, never gave up, and made things difficult for us and almost tied the game had it not been for a brilliant moment by Andrew Garcia (Sicklerville, N.J./Timber Creek Regional). We need to do a better job of killing off games and putting teams away to make it easier on ourselves.  That being said, we will take the three points, and get ourselves ready for Robert Morris next week."  
 
The Red Flash (11-5-1; 5-1-0) took an early 1-0 lead eight minutes into the contest off a well earned goal. Pedro Neto (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil/Instituto Nossa Senhora Da Gloria) pressed the CCSU defense into giving up the ball  deep into their own half and then delivered Pablo Medina (Monterrey, Mexico/IMG Academies) a brilliant ball. Medina delicately flicked the ball to the bottom right corner to elude the Blue Devils diving keeper. This was Medina's first goal of the 2014 season, changing roles very briefly from providing assists. 

Saint Francis held a 1-0 lead at halftime. The Flash out played CCSU in the first half earning six corner-kicks, while holding the Central Connecticut attack to zero.

The Flash doubled the lead thanks to Ryan Byers (Scottdale, Pa./Southmoreland) late in the second half. Medina played a ball from midfield to Brendan McGhee (Pickering, Ontario, Canada/St. Mary's Catholic) inside the CCSU box that squared it to Byers, who then purposefully mid stride, placed the ball past keeper Josef Abele. 

CCSU fought back into the game with a late goal in the 87th minute, but the Red Flash defense stood strong claiming their fifth NEC win. 

"I would also like to thank our seniors and am glad we were able to win this game for them," said coach Casper. "They have all meant so much to this program and the impact they have made has been measurable. I love each and every one of these guys, and hold a special place in my heart for them. They are all solid players, but more importantly, are solid people and I am thankful to have the chance to spend 4 years with them and look forward to a continued relationship as part of our Saint Francis soccer family."   
 
Conner Rezende (Davie, Fla. /University School at Nova Southeastern) led all attackers in the game with five shots, three being on goal.

The Red Flash remain first in the NEC standings with 15 points.

SFU wraps up regular season play against Robert Morris Nov. 9 at 1 p.m, and could potentially wrap up 1st place.