Flash Points:
- The Red Flash got two goals from Mario Mastrangelo (Venetia, Pa/Peters Township) in a 5-0 win over Salem International in Thursday's friendly.
- The Flash scored on two penalty shots as Francis de Vries (Christchurch, New Zealand/Cashmere) and Dominic Ramirez (Johnstown, Pa./Westmont Hilltop) cashed in on the penalties.
- SFU's defense was stout, allowing only two shots total, one on goal .
LORETTO, PA- The Saint Francis Red Flash controlled their exhibition against Salem International from start to finish in a 5-0 victory on Thursday night at the Stokes SoccerPlex.
Saint Francis seized the momentum from the opening kick on Thursday, generating good chances early.
Stefan Sjekloca (Belgrade, Serbia/Fryeburg Academy) fired a strong chance on goal from the right side in the fifth minute, earning a corner kick. The Flash would earn two corners early on as they attacked early and often in the match.
Brendan McGhee (Pickering, Ontario, Canada/St. Mary's Catholic) split the defense in the 18th minute and was brought down from behind in the box, earning a penalty kick in the process.
Francis de Vries (Christchurch, New Zealand/Cashmere) patiently converted the penalty kick, depositing the ball into the low right corner after the keeper guessed wrong. McGhee again caused problems towards the end of the first period, turning the corner on the defense and feeding the ball to
Mario Mastrangelo (Venetia, Pa/Peters Township). The sophomore had a tap-in goal in the 28th minute to make it 2-0 SFU at the end of the first 30.
The Flash continued to press in the second of the three 30-minute frames. Mastrangelo had a shot stopped, earning a corner. Off the set piece,
Troye Kiernan (Pittsburgh, Pa./Upper St. Clair) had his attempt blocked in a flurry of pressure in the 37th minute. Moments later, Mastrangelo struck for the second time, splitting a pair of defenders off a turnover and putting the ball past the keeper on the right-hand side.
Saint Francis worked in eight of their 11 freshman into the contest, and they paid dividends in the second period.
Benjamin Hajji (Oslo, Norway/Lindberg) fed
Lucas Canineu (Corbin, Ky/Corbin) at the top of the 18-box and the freshman fired a shot off the keeper's hands and into the net for his first collegiate goal. Canineu's tally made it 4-0 at the end of the second period.
In the 70th minute,
Dominic Ramirez (Johnstown, Pa./Westmont Hilltop) earned a penalty kick after breaking away from the defense and being taken down just before his shot. The senior converted the Flash's second PK of the night to cap the scoring. SFU's defense dominated throughout the 90 minutes. The Flash bottled up the Tiger's counter-attacks, limiting Salem International to two late shots. Freshman keeper
Wyatt Durbin (Richmond, KY/Shattuck-St. Mary's (MN)) stood tall on the lone shot on goal. Durbin came out and challenged Rohland Finn of SIU and blocked down the shot from the left side. The trio of
Marcus Rojas (Fremont, Calif./Bellarmine College Preparatory),
Milton Joyner (Los Angeles, Ca./Beverly Hills) and Durbin earned the clean sheet.
SFU will have one more exhibition tune up before the regular season starts next Friday night. Cleveland State comes to Loretto on Sunday morning, kick off from the Stokes SoccerPlex is set for 11 a.m.
