LORETTO, Pa. – For 90 minutes on Friday afternoon at Stokes Soccerplex, the second place Saint Francis women's soccer team stood toe-to-toe with NEC-leading Fairleigh Dickinson. The two teams traded blows throughout, but in the end, the Knights earned a 2-1 victory. The Red Flash closes the regular season with a 4-3-1 mark in Northeast Conference play.
 
Casey Gallaher (Sidman, Pa./Forest Hills) found herself in the middle of the action early on. In the first minute of the game, she sent a cross that was intercepted by FDU keeper Felicia Burr, but Burr bobbled it and lost control. The Flash couldn't get to the loose ball before Burr recovered, though. In the third minute, Gallaher got behind the Knights' defense and sent a left-footed shot that made it past Burr, but FDU's Katey Arathoon made a sliding desperation save to kick the ball away just before it crossed the goal line.
 
The Knights managed to break into the scoring column in the fifth minute. Elma Kolenovic sent a cross from the left side into the six-yard box on the right side. It was tussled over, and the final touch by Carly Tice beat Romina Kunze (Frankfurt, Germany/Carl-von-Weinberg-Schule) to make it 1-0.
 
Galleher looked to have another opportunity in the 19th minute. She chased a loose ball outside the box while again getting behind the Knights' defense, but Burr came out with a hard play on the ball to send Gallaher tumbling. The play resulted in a yellow card for Burr, but the scoring chance was taken away.
 
The Flash had three corner kicks in the early part of the second half, and the best scoring chance of that sequence came when Leah Hardin (Aberdeen, Md./Aberdeen) had an open attempt. Her shot was blocked, however. In the 63rd minute, Fairleigh Dickinson used its own corner kick for an insurance goal. Rachel Hoekstra headed home Jessi Reinhardt's corner to make it 2-0.
 
SFU continued to pressure throughout the second half, and the pressure paid off when Allison LaDuke (Greensburg, Pa./Greater Latrobe) was hauled down in the box in the 80th minute. That gave the Flash a penalty kick, and Shannon McGinnis (Macungie, Pa./Emmaus) drilled the attempt past Burr to cut the lead to 2-1. The Red Flash couldn't find the equalizer, though, as FDU clinched the NEC regular season title with the victory.
 
Saint Francis finished the season with 13 points in NEC play and will learn its postseason fate following the completion of NEC play this weekend.
 
The Flash honored seven seniors prior to the match – Julia Gembry (Barnegat, N.J./Monsignor Donovan), Kelly Beegle (Bedford, Pa./Bedford), Hallie Rexer (Mountain Top, Pa./Holy Redeemer), Brittany Hasson (Leola, Pa./Warwick), Paige Butler (Osprey, Fla./Venice), Kasey Butts (Milford, Conn./Jonathan Law) and Romina Kunze (Frankfurt, Germany/Carl-von-Weinberg-Schule).