Flash Points: 

• The Flash honored their 10-man senior class in pre-match ceremony
• Senior Francis de Vries (Christchurch, New Zealand/Cashmere) scored twice in the win
• Senior Marcus Rojas (Fremont, Calif./Bellarmine College Preparatory) made one save in earning the clean sheet

LORETTO, PA- Saint Francis men's soccer sent off their seniors with a 3-0 victory over the Central Connecticut Blue Devils and clinched a spot in the NEC playoffs. 

The Flash honored their 10-man senior class in a pre-match ceremony and the Flash sent them off with their 33rd clean sheet over their four years in Loretto. 

Marcus Rojas (Fremont, Calif./Bellarmine College Preparatory)' lone save of the match came 16 seconds into the contest, fielding a short hop off of Louis Beddouri shot from 25 yards out. The Flash countered and threatened to score off two different corner kicks but Jack Webber (Bernville, Pa./Tulpehocken)'s header off the second set piece sailed just wide of goal. A physical match that saw 18 first half fouls led in part to the Flash's first goal of the match. The physical nature of the match saw fouls called on both teams within seconds of each other, the latter coming just outside of the CCSU goal box after Troye Kiernan (Pittsburgh, Pa./Upper St. Clair) was fouled just before a shot. Francis de Vries (Christchurch, New Zealand/Cashmere) took the free kick and rocketed a shot that was clipped by the CCSU defending wall. The ball, initially headed for the right side, changed direction and went into the left side of the net to give SFU the 1-0 lead. The Blue Devils would earn a couple of corner kicks after the goal, but managed only one shot that sailed wide as the rest of the half was bottled into the middle of the field. SFU took a 1-0 lead into the half. 

Troye Kiernan (Pittsburgh, Pa./Upper St. Clair) fed Brendan McGhee (Pickering, Ontario, Canada/St. Mary's Catholic) early in the second half and the forwards made a strong run to goal. In the 50th minute, McGhee returned the ball to Kiernan who had his shot stuffed by keeper Nick Velleca. However, the senior keeper could not control the rebound which rolled right to Mario Mastrangelo (Venetia, Pa/Peters Township), the sophomore fired it into the center of the net to make it 2-0. Freshman CJ Smolyn (Holland, PA/Germantown Academy) nearly made it 2-0 on two different occasions as a sinking shot was tipped wide of the goal by Velleca in the 58th minute and another shot in the 61st beat the keeper but rang off the post. 

Kiernan again set up the Flash' final tally of the match as his inital shot was blocked out of bounds to set up a corner kick. Senior Stefan Sjekloca (Belgrade, Serbia/Fryeburg Academy) placed a corner kick on to the head of Nicco Mastrangelo (Venetia, Pa/Peters Township) who deflected it to de Vries who headed home his second goal of the match. That goal ended Velleca's night as he was replaced by Carson D'Ambrosio. Neither team would threaten to score after de Vries' second tally in the 70th minute. The Red Flash earned their 10th win of the year and eighth shutout. 

SFU now sits at 10-5-2 overall and 3-1-2 in NEC play. They will wrap up the regular season next Sunday at Robert Morris, match time is set for 1 p.m.