LORETTO, Pa. – Nearly six hours after the Saint Francis women's soccer team kicked off a non-conference game against Loyola (Md.), the Red Flash frantically tried to come back from a late two-goal deficit to send the game further into the night. Less than seven minutes into action, lightning forced the Greyhounds and Red Flash into a delay that lasted three hours and 54 minutes. That delay forced the match from the Stokes Soccerplex to the lights of DeGol Field where the teams played the remainder of the game under clear, dark skies. When all was said and done, Loyola held off the late Flash flurry for a 2-1 victory.
 
The Red Flash trailed 2-0 after a Rosy Hayes score in the 74th minute. Saint Francis picked up the offensive pressure after that goal, with Brittany Hasson (Leola, Pa./Warwick) giving the Flash one of its best scoring chances of the second half up to that point with a hard shot that went wide with just under 13 minutes to play. Less than a minute later, Allison LaDuke (Greensburg, Pa./Greater Latrobe) made a run along the right side, and her shot to the far post beat keeper Colleen Folan to make it 2-1 Loyola. Saint Francis continued to control the majority of play for the final 12 minutes, but it couldn't crack the code on a second goal. Hasson had a shot blocked with less than six minutes to play that led to one of two second- half corner kicks for SFU, but nothing materialized from the opportunity.
 
Saint Francis had the better of play in the first half yet found itself down by a goal heading into the intermission. After Loyola scored in the 18th minute, some SFU pressure forced Folan into a mental error with 19 minutes remaining in the first half. Coming out of the box, Folan's attempt to beat the onrushing attack to the ball led her to grab it with her hands – an automatic yellow card. That gave Gabi Morales (Madrid, Spain/Colegio La Inmaculada-Marillac) a free kick from just outside the top of the box, but that attempt sailed over the crossbar.
 
A minute later, a lead pass from Morales set the Flash up with another good scoring chance. LaDuke took the pass from Morales and set up Kelly Beegle (Bedford, Pa./Bedford) on the right side, but Folan dove to her right to deflect the low shot to keep it 1-0. With 14 minutes remaining in the first half, Morales displayed some individual creativity with several dekes to beat a couple Greyhound defenders, but her shot was also stopped. LaDuke also had another opportunity in the box, but Folan successfully cut down the angle to eliminate that opportunity.
 
In the SFU net, Romina Kunze (Frankfurt, Germany/Carl-von-Weinberg-Schule) finished with five saves, including a sparkler in the 16th minute on Sarah Ensor. After a giveaway, Ensor had a clear lane to the goal but was stopped by a sliding Kunze.
 
The Red Flash heads to Bucknell for a Sunday non-conference match at 3 p.m.