Flash Points:

• Saint Francis played even with the defending A-10 regular season champions
• The match's lone tally came in the 48th minute. 
• Julia Hernan (Pottstown, Pa./The Hill School) made nine saves, Gabi Morales (Madrid, Spain/Colegio La Inmaculada-Marillac) led the team with three shots. 

LORETTO, PA-  The Red Flash came out on the short end of a hard fought, 1-0 decision against George Washington on Friday in the season opener for both teams. 

The lone goal in the back-and-forth match came in the 48th minute when Olivia DiCristofaro split the defense with a pass to Mackenzie Cowley who scored from the top of the 18-box into the low right corner.

"A lot of positives came out of this game," head coach Brenda van Stralen said. "We played some disciplined soccer and we will continue to shape this team, with all the new faces that we have, to where we need to go."

The teams traded pressure and momentum for the entire 90 minutes. Saint Francis pressured early with Jessica Keller (Sandy Hook, Conn./Newtown) and Allison LaDuke (Greensburg, Pa./Greater Latrobe) each putting shots on goal within the first six minutes of the match but Miranda Horn made two of her six saves early. Cowley and the Colonials countered with the senior getting off four shots in the attack with Hernan making a pair of saves. Again the tide switched back into the Flash's favor with Gabi Morales (Madrid, Spain/Colegio La Inmaculada-Marillac) leading the attack. Morales found Leah Hardin (Aberdeen, Md./Aberdeen) but her shot was blocked down and the rebound shot by Sara Suler (Hermitage, Pa./Hickory) was scooped up by Horn. Morales kept the pressure on, getting a decent look from about 15 yards out that was blocked down by Horn and moments later got off a shot that sailed just wide of the goal. It would be scoreless at the end of the first half. 

Early in the second half, DiCristofaro's pass set up what amounted to be the match's lone goal as George Washington pressured early in the second half. DiCristofaro and Brittney Cooper followed up the tally with shots from in close but Hernan made to fine saves to keep the score 1-0. In the 56th minute, freshman Alyssa McGhee (Altoona, Pa./Bishop Guilfoyle) was able to turn the corner on the Colonial defense and got off her best chance of the day, a skip shot from the left-hand side. Horn was able to deflect the ball up into the air and corral the rebound. Following the save, the Red Flash defense turned away another strong attack by George Washington. A pair of corner kicks were fended off as the Flash defense allowed just one shot, a save by Hernan, off the two set pieces. 

Following the flurry, the Colonials tried to keep the ball in the middle of the field as much as possible as SFU looked for the equalizer. Morales and LaDuke got good pressure on the GW back line in the 85th minute, resulting in a corner kick. The Flash played the ball short to Morales who crossed it into the box from about 25 yards out. The ball bounced around before Horn grabbed the ball to end the threat. The Colonials were able to run out the clock from there and hold on for the narrow victory. 

George Washington out shot Saint Francis 19-11 including 10-6 in shots on goal. The Colonials also owned a 5-2 advantage on corner kicks and had the lone offside call of the match. 

SFU will wrap up their opening weekend at home on Sunday when in-state rival Bucknell comes to Loretto. Match time is set for 2 p.m.