LORETTO, Pa. - The Saint Francis women's soccer team returns home after nearly a month on the road to continue its Northeast Conference schedule this weekend. The Red Flash hosts Bryant on Friday at 3 p.m. and Sacred Heart on Sunday at noon. The game against Bryant on Friday will feature two of the three teams to open NEC play with 2-0 records. The Red Flash got to 2-0 with come-from-behind wins at LIU Brooklyn and Mount St. Mary's.
ABOUT BRYANT
The Bulldogs come into Loretto tied with Saint Francis and Fairleigh Dickinson for first place in the conference with 2-0 records and six points. Bryant won home games last weekend against Sacred Heart (1-0) and Wagner (2-1). Bryant goalkeeper Kaylan Conrad was named the NEC Defensive Player of the Week after she posted a pair of shutouts while going 2-0-1 in three matches last week. Along with the Sacred Heart win, Conrad shut out Brown in a scoreless draw in non-conference action.
ABOUT SACRED HEART
The Pioneers enter the weekend's action at 0-2 in Northeast Conference play and will face Robert Morris on Friday before playing the Red Flash on Sunday. Sacred Heart found itself on the wrong side of one of Conrad's two shutouts for Bryant in a 1-0 loss last Friday. On Sunday, the Pioneers returned home and fell to Fairleigh Dickinson, 4-2, in a high-scoring affair. Alexis Parlato opened the scoring for Sacred Heart in the 2nd minute, but Fairleigh Dickinson responded with all four of its goals in a 13-minute span in the first half.
FAST START IN NEC PLAY
The Red Flash are no strangers to fast starts in Northeast Conference play. With its two wins last weekend, Saint Francis has started at least 2-0 in conference action for five consecutive seasons. During the first three years of that run from 2011-13, the Red Flash claimed the Northeast Conference regular season championship.
GOLDEN GALLAHER
After scoring one goal in the first two years of her collegiate career, junior Casey Gallaher (Sidman, Pa./Forest Hills) doubled that output in just one weekend. Gallaher scored the game-winning goal in overtime in the Red Flash's victory at LIU Brooklyn. She followed that up with the game-tying goal in the Flash's 2-1 victory at Mount St. Mary's on Sunday. Gallaher also added an assist in the LIU Brooklyn win.
BUTLER AND MORALES FIND THE NET
Paige Butler (Osprey, Fla./Venice) picked a fine time to score the first goal of her Saint Francis career as she tied the score at 1-1 against LIU Brooklyn on Friday. Meanwhile, Gabi Morales (Madrid, Spain/Colegio La Inmaculada-Marillac) scored her second goal of the season off a corner kick to give the Red Flash a 2-1 lead in a game it would win by that score at The Mount.
ROBERT MORRIS MATCH DATE CHANGED
Due to a conflict with Robert Morris' schedule, the match with the Colonials scheduled for Oct. 16 has been moved to the 18th. The match will begin at 3 p.m.
