Howell, N.J. - The Saint Francis bowing team capped off its second NEC Championship in program history on Sunday, outlasting regular-season champion Sacred Heart 4-3 in a final best-of-7 baker match to earn the hard-fought title. 

"This was a magical moment," said head coach Tom Falbo. I couldn't be more proud of these ladies and it is all possible because if the unconditional belief this team has in one another. Now we set our sights on competing for an NCAA Title for the first time in our program's history."

A feisty Sacred Heart team gave SFU all it could handle. The Pioneers started the day hot, defeating the Red Flash in the first leg of the Championship Final Mega Match 1002-928.

The Red Flash responded to take the second leg of the Mega Match, 950-879. Freshman Emma Wrenn (Arlington Heights, ILL. /John Hersey ), who was sensational all weekend long, clinched the victory with a strike. Junior and first team All-NEC selection Sarah Littleton (Round Lake Beach, Ill./Grayslake North) led the Red Flash with an average of 204 followed by classmate Haley Carroll (Williamsville, N.Y./Williamsville South) at 202.

It was on to a best-of-7 baker bout to decide the Championship Round Mega Match. An SFU win would give them the title while a Sacred Heart win would extend the championship to a final best-of-seven series. 

The Red Flash who got off to a blistering start, taking the first two games, 192-167 and 215-193. A Sacred Heart win in game three, 200-193, temporarily made is a 2-1 lead, but the Red Flash answered with a 246-188 win in game four to take a 3-1 lead and move 10 frames away from victory. However, the celebration had to wait as Sacred Heart won the final three games to take the best-of-7 by the score of 4-3. The seventh and deciding game was a 235-215 shootout.

Since Saint Francis was previously unbeaten, the championship advanced to a winner-take-all best-of-7 baker match.

This time it was Sacred Heart to stormed out to a 3-1 lead, taking game one (199-158), game three (209-206) and game four (177-142). Saint Francis won game two, 232-160.

Down to its final game, Saint Francis mounted a furious rally. Carroll closed out an impressive game 5 for Saint Francis with one of its nine strikes in a 236-184 victory. The Red Flash then evened the series at 3-3 with a nerve-wracking 189-177 win in game six. It would all come down to a decisive game seven.

As was the case all day Sunday, the two teams traded punches and were separated by just two pins through five frames. That's when Saint Francis closed like champions to pull away for the clinching 205-155 victory.

Wrenn led Saint Francis with a baker frame average of 20.80. Littleton posted an impressive 20.51 followed by junior Kyra Udziela (Lemont, Ill./Lemont) at 19.11. Carroll and freshman Britney Grey (Cattaraugus, N.Y./Cattaraugus Little Valley Central ) were also key contributors with baker frame averages of 18.39.

The Red Flash claim just its second NEC championship in program history and the first since 2013-14. Unfortunately, SFU did not receive a bid to the NCAA Tournament that year despite an impressive RPI.

Saint Francis can rest easy this time around as the NEC champion earns an automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament this year, marking SFU's first appearance in the eight-team NCAA Championship field. The NCAA Championships will be held in Saint Louis, Mo. from Apr. 12-14.