Friday, October 28 | at Sacred Heart | New Haven, Conn. | Johnson Field (Yale University) | 7 p.m. | LIVE STATS | LIVE VIDEO 
Sunday, October 30 | Bellarmine | Loretto, Pa. | DeGol Field | 11 a.m. | LIVE STATS | LIVE VIDEO

OPENING STICK VS. SACRED HEART
Friday's match between Saint Francis and Sacred Heart marks the 18th meeting in the all-time series dating back to the 2001 season. The Red Flash is looking for its first win on the road in the series.
 
THE WORD ON SACRED HEART
The Pioneers come into the contest 2-14 overall and 1-5 in NEC play after falling 2-1 to Merrimack on Sunday. Aine Kearney leads the team with five goals for 10 points. Mira Poelzer is second on the team with two tallies and four assists for eight points, while Emma Brayford has three scores for six points. Samantha Maresca has 87 saves, a 3.59 goals against average and a .664 save percentage. 
 
LAST TIME WE MET SACRED HEART
Claudia Ortiz scored the game-winning goal in the 23rd minute off feeders from Dolores Zavelata and Eva Valentini for a 1-0 win against Sacred Heart on October 15, 2021. Chloe South recorded three saves for the Red Flash, while Erin Burgess and Samantha Maresca each had three saves in 30 minutes of action.

OPENING STICK VS. BELLARMINE
Sunday's match between Saint Francis and Bellarmine marks the fifth meeting in the all-time series dating back to the 2004 season. It will be the fourth meeting in Loretto between the two teams and the first  in 15 years.

THE WORD ON BELLARMINE
The Knights, who travel to Kent State on Friday, come into the contest 4-13 after falling to No. 18 Ohio State on Sunday. Amber Hofenk Jerembo leads the team with 12 goals and one assist for 25 points. Marit van der Bend is second on the team with four goals and four assists for 12 points, while Anna Crump adds three tallies and three assists for nine points. Danni Swallow has 64 saves, a 3.01 goals against average and a .681 save percentage.

LAST TIME WE MET BELLARMINE
Bellarmine defeated Saint Francis 6-2 on October 31, 2021. Eva Valentini and Julia Breneman each had a goal for the Red Flash. Marit van der Bend had two goals while Teresa Schmidt and Julia Doornebos each had a goal and an assist for the Knights in the finale game of the 2021 season

LAST TIME OUT
Eva Valentini scored a penalty stroke goal in the 38th minute to propel Saint Francis into the NEC Tournament and past Stonehill 1-0 on Sunday.

NEXT TIME OUT
Saint Francis will make its first postseason tournament appearance since 2016 and first in the NEC first 2013 when it meets up with Wagner, Fairfield and Rider in Staten Island, N.Y. on the campus of Wagner College on November 4 and 6. The Red Flash will most likely be the No. 4 seed and playing at 11 a.m. on November 4.

POSTSEASON HISTORY
Saint Francis will make its fourth appearance in the NEC Tournament and the first since the 2012 season, and will join the 2007, 2011 and 2012 NEC Tournament teams. The Red Flash also made two trips to the Atlantic-10 Tournament in 2014 and 2016 and will be making its first tournament appearance since falling to Saint Joesph's in the Atlantic-10 semifinals in 2016.

WEEKLY LEAGUE HONORS
Eugenia Kenny and Eva Valentini were named Northeast Conference Prime Performers for the week of October 17-23. Both players registered a goal and an assist in the week. Kenny registered the game-winning goal in the second half against Merrimack on October 21 and also dished out an assist on the first tally of the game. Valentini also had a helper on that first goal of the game against the Warriors before she put the Red Flash into the NEC Tournament for the first time with a penalty goal against Stonehill.

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 24 of the 37 games she has played in her career. The sophomore has posted a point in 24 of the 28 games the Red Flash has scored a goal in her career, while the team has been shutout nine times in her career. Valentini has 20 goals and 11 assists for 51 points in her career to sit in sixth place in program history for points. She can move move into fifth place with seven points. Valentini also moved into sixth place for career goals with 20 and can move into the program's Top-5 with two 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 12 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. She is now just one of three players to have a dozen goals in a year, joining Autumn Pellman and Selena Adamshick. With one more goal, Valentini would be one of two players with a bakers dozen in a single season. The 29 points in 2022 also ranks fifth in program history and she can move into fourth place with two points. 

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.