Friday, October 21 | Merrimack | Loretto, Pa. | DeGol Field | 3 p.m. | LIVE STATS | LIVE VIDEO 
Sunday, October 23 | Stonehill | Loretto, Pa. | DeGol Field | 12 p.m. | LIVE STATS | LIVE VIDEO

OPENING STICK VS. MERRIMACK
Friday's match between Saint Francis and Merrimack marks the second meeting in the all-time series dating back to 2021. This will be Merrimack's first trip to Loretto after the two teams met in Massachusetts in the inaugral meeting last year.
 
THE WORD ON MERRIMACK
The Warriors come into the contest 0-14 overall amd 0-4 in NEC play after losing to New Hampshire on Sunday. Abby Allen leads the team with five goals for 10 points. Katelyn Bennett and Lauren Burke both have two goals and two assists for six points on the year. Paige Degeorge and Isabelle Gardiner have split the goalkeeping duties this year with Degeorge posting 46 saves, a 6.68 goals against average and a .484 save percenage, while Gardiner has 50 stops, a 4.29 goals against average and a .625 save percentage.
 
LAST TIME WE MET MERRIMACK
Anne-Sophie Hogenboom scored the game-winning goal in the 67th minute to lift Merrimack past Saint Francis 3-2 on October 10, 2021. Hogenboom also assisted on the other two Warriors goals. Eva Valentini and Julia Breneman posted the two Red Flash goals on the afternoon. Riley Brown had 16 saves for Merrimack and Chloe South made four saves for the Red Flash.

OPENING STICK VS. STONEHILL
Sunday's match between Saint Francis and Stonehill will be the first meeting between the two teams with the Skyhawks is in their first year in the Northeast Conference.

THE WORD ON STONEHILL
The Skyhawks, who host Sacred Heart on Friday, come into the weekend 2-9 overall and 1-3 in NEC play after falling to Vermont on Sunday. Raegan Hickey fuels the team with four goals and an assist for nine points. Makayla Strickuslis is second with three goals for six points and Madi Weber has two tallies for four points. Shannon Conte has 116 saves, a 4.41 goals against average and a .695 save percentage.

LAST TIME OUT
Saint Francis lost to Ohio U on Sunday. Chloe South had six stops for the Loretto program.

NEXT TIME OUT
Saint Francis wraps up the regular season at Sacred Heart on Friday, October 28 and then will host Bellarmine for Senior Day on Sunday, October 30.

NEC PLAYOFF PUSH
Saint Francis is a game back of the Top-4 to qualify for the NEC Tournament with three games to play. LIU is a game ahead of the Red Flash, but also finish the regular season with the three toughest opponents. Saint Francis defeated LIU 3-2 on October 9 so if the two teams finish tied the Loretto program would hold the head-to-head. Conversely, Saint Francis plays the bottom three teams in the standings so could use those contests to make a final push for the postseason. 

LIU Schedule (3-1): Rider (10/21), Fairfield (10/23), Wagner (10/28). 
SFU Schedule (2-2): Merrimack (10/21), Stonehill (10/23), at Sacred Heart (10/28)
Stonehill Schedule (1-3): Sacred Heart (10/21), at Saint Francis (10/23), at Fairfield (10/28)
Merrimack Schedule (0-4): at Saint Francis (10/21), Sacred Heart (10/23), at Rider (10/28)
Sacred Heart Schedule (0-4): at Stonehill (10/21), at Merrimack (10/23), Saint Francis (10/28)

WEEKLY LEAGUE HONORS
Eva Valentini was named the NEC Player of the Week for the week of October 3-10 after posting three goals and one assist for seven points in a 1-1 week for the Red Flash. Valentini recorded a goal and an assist on Friday against Wagner and then scored twice against LIU in a 3-2 win on Sunday to help the Red Flash to its second-best start in NEC history with a 2-1 start. The sophomore tied the game at 1 at the 39-minute mark and then gave Saint Francis a 2-1 edge with a tally at 52:36. Dolores Zavaleta was named an NEC Prime Performer after registering  four assists on the weekend including dishing out an assist on all three Saint Francis goals in the win at LIU. She had an assist on Valentini's goal against Wagner on Friday and then had assists on Valentini's goals at 39:00 and 52:36 and then connected with Olivia Muffitt for the decisive tally at 56:42 against the Sharks. 

Madison Waldspurger was named the Northeast Conference Co-Rookie of the Week for the week of September 26-October 3. In addition, Waldspurger, Valentini and Zavaleta were named NEC Prime Performers. Waldspurger not only scored her first collegiate goals against Central Michigan, she registered the first Red Flash hat trick in a game for the first time since 2017 in a 6-2 win on Sunday. The freshman notched her first career goal for what would prove to be the eventual game-winner at 20:36 to give Saint Francis a 3-1 lead. Waldspurger also added goals at 44:11 and 51:28 to seal the squad's first winning streak of the season and most goals in a game since the 2018 campaign. Waldspurger was also instrumental in the defense that allowed 2.00 goals per game during the weekend that led to the win against Central Michigan and a 3-2 win against Rider on Friday to end a five-game losing streak against the Broncs and help Saint Francis open the league slate 1-0 for the fourth time in the 14-year history in the league. Valentini scored a pair of goals on the weekend to move into the program's Top-10 in points with 39 points. Valentini started her week by scoring the first goal of the game at the 19:37 mark and added a defensive save against Rider. Valentini then added the team's fourth goal against Central Michigan.  Zavaleta notched her first two collegiate goals on the weekend. The sophomore scored the decisive goal against Rider. After scoring the team's last goal against Rider, Zavaleta knocked in a rebound against Central Michigan for the Red Flash's first goal and to tie the game at 1 at 17:20. She now has two goals and four assists for eight points in her career and Saint Francis is 5-0 in games when she registers a goal or an assist in a match.

Valentini was named a Northeast Conference Prime Performer for the week of September 12-18. The defender posted two goals and an assist in the week for the Red Flash. The sophomore posted two goals against Drexel on Friday to tie the match both times within 90 seconds of the Dragons taking the lead. She then added an assist against Villanova on the squad's lone goal of the match.

Valentini was named the Northeast Conference Field Hockey Offensive Player of the Week for the week of August 29-September 5. It is the second time in her career she has earned the league's top weekly honor. Valentini and Francesca Primomo were also named Prime Performers for the Week. Valentini posted a goal and two assists for four points in the week and her points all came at the right time for the Red Flash. She registered a goal and an assist in the final 1:50 of regulation against Brown to help force overtime on Friday. She assisted Chloe Butz to start the run and cut the margin to 3-2 in the final two minutes and then tied the game with her second goal of the season with 22 seconds left in regulation. The 2021 All-NEC second-team performer then dished out an assist on the game-winner against Holy Cross on Sunday in overtime to Primomo. Valentini was then named a Prime Performer for the week of September 13-18 after registering two goals and one assist for five points.
 
AS VALENTINI GOES
Sophomore Eva Valentini has registered a point in 21 of the 35 games she has played in her career. The sophomore has posted a point in 21 of the 25 games the Red Flash has scored a goal in her career, while the team has been shutout nine times in her career. Valentini has 19 goals and 10 assists for 48 points in her career to sit in seventh place in program history for points. She can move move into sixth place with one point and become just the sixth player in program history to reach 50 points with two points. Valentini also moved into sixth place for career goals with 19 and can move into the program's Top-5 with three tallies.
  
SEASON/GAME RECORD ATTACK
Dolores Zavaleta dished out three assists in the win against LIU to become the third player in program history to have three helpers in a single game at Saint Francis. Eva Valentini now has 10 goals on the season to become the eighth different player to score 10 goals in a season and marks the 13th time in program history a player has reached double digits in goals in a single campaign.

RETURNING ALL-NEC PLAYERS
Saint Francis begins its second year back in the Northeast Conference and also returning are All-NEC second-team performers Claudia Ortiz and Eva Valentini. Valentini led the team with eight goals and six assists for 22 points while Ortiz ranked second with six tallies and four assists for 16 points.

NEW TO THE LO'
Freshmen Chloe Butz and Madison Waldspurger both joined the team for the 2022 season. Both players made their collegiate debuts in the starting lineup at Ball State on August 26. Butz had her first collegiate goal against Brown on September 2. Assistant coach Danielle Baumgardner also joined the staff and started in the spring of 2021.
 
ABOUT THE COACH
Head coach Maria Bettiana Cerretta begins her sixth season as the field hockey head coach at Saint Francis. Earlier this year, she became an American citizen.