LORETTO, Pa. – Julia Breneman (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Cedar Cliff) scored in the 54th minute to power Saint Francis University past Lock Haven University 3-2 in non-conference field hockey action on Friday night.
 
The Red Flash took a 1-0 and 2-1 lead, but both times the Bald Eagles responded. Eva Valentini (Junin, Buenos Aires, Argentina/Colegio Marianista Junin) connected with Ella Maillie (Reading, Pa./Exeter Township), who then found Breneman's stick and the back of the cage for a 3-2 lead with 53:35 on the clock. The Loretto program was able to control play for the majority of the remaining six minutes and 25 seconds and did not allow a shot to secure the first win for the team in 2021.
 
Valentini and Claudia Ortiz (Madrid, Spain/Margarita Salas) both tallied a goal and an assist in the winning effort. For Breneman, Maillie and Ortiz the points were the first of their career. Valentini now leads the team with two goals and one assist for five points after scoring the game-tying goal in the final 10 seconds against Ball State University and force overtime on Sunday.
 
Chloe South (Lusby, Md./Patuxent) made four saves for Saint Francis in the win.
 
The Red Flash took the lead twice only to see Lock Haven come back to even the score until Saint Francis scored in the final 10 minutes of the game and held on for the victory.
 
After several penalty corners, Ortiz was able to get the Loretto program on the scoreboard off an assist by Dolores Zavaleta (San Juan, Argentina/Colegio Central Universitario) at 10:06 for a 1-0 edge.
 
The Bald Eagles answered to tie the match at 1 with a score at 22:08. Ortiz then helped the Red Flash retake the lead when she found Valentini at 34:26, but Lock Haven tied the match four minutes later to send the game into intermission all knotted up. Breneman then gave Saint Francis the lead, and the Bald Eagles could not find an answer for the third time in the game.
 
The game was Military Appreciation Night, and the team raised money for the James E. Van Zandt Medical Center.
 
Saint Francis, who ended the 2019 season with a 3-0 win against Saint Louis, earned its first victory in 678 days after the 2020-21 season was cancelled.
 
The Red Flash return to action when the squad hits the road at Drexel University in one week on Friday, September 17. Match time is 4 p.m.