Saint Francis Women's Lacrosse Welcomes Canisius To Loretto On Wednesday

Canisius College (2-0) at Saint Francis University (0-1)
Date \| Time	Wednesday, February 23, 2022 \| 3 p.m
Location	Loretto, Pa. \| DeGol Arena
Television	Trent Dunn (play-by-play) NEC Front Row
Live Stats	Side Arm
Stats	Saint Francis \| Canisius \| Northeast Conference
Social Media	@RedFlashLax \| @RedFlashLax \| Facebook

GAME NOTES VS. CANISIUS

opening draw

Wednesday's home opener between Saint Francis and Canisius marks the fourth meeting in the all-time series dating back to the 2002 season.
It will also be the second time the Golden Griffins will come to Loretto after defeating the Red Flash in the last meeting between the two teams at DeGol Field in 2006.

about the golden griffins

Canisius comes into the match 2-0 after defeating Robert Morris 16-11 on Saturday.
Katie Smolensky paced the Golden Griffins with four goals and an assist.
Paige Stachura registered two goals and two assists, while Caroline Netti posted a hat trick. Starchura also fuels the team with nine draw controls and is second with three ground balls.
Skylar McArthur leads the team with six goals and an assist for seven points, while Stachura (4 goals, 3 assists) and Smolensky (5 goals, 1 assist) rank second and third on the team.
Shannon Maroney, who had nine stops against the Colonials, has 16 saves with a 15.33 goals against average and a .410 save percentage this season.

last time we met

Canisus defeated Saint Francis 11-4 on Mar. 15, 2006 in the Red Flash's 2006 season opener.
Rachel Bucci paced the Loretto program with two goals and an assist, while Rachel Farrow and Brittany Bullion also found the twine.
Lauren Walsh powered the Golden Griffins with three goals and two assists. Whitney Card added two tallies, while Ashley Gray posted a goal and an assist.
Samantha Morgan made 10 saves for the Red Flash, and Katie Ferguson had eight stops for Canisius.

last time out

Saint Francis lost 19-6 to Youngstown State in the 2022 season opener on Friday.
Senior Autumn McHenry and junior Lizzie Fisher each had two goals in the match, while senior Amanda Heidt and freshman Christina Roncarati also found the twine.
Senior C.C. Courter powered the defense with four ground balls and two caused turnovers.
Senior Elyssa Enrique made nine saves in between the pipes.

next time out

Saint Francis hits the road for the second time this season at Akron on Sunday. The Zips nipped the Red Flash last season 8-7.
The Loretto program returns to DeGol Field on Mar. 4 to host Central Michigan. Match time is 2 p.m.

#defenddegol in home openers

Wednesday will mark the second time in the program's 20 year history that the Red Flash will host Canisius for its home opener.
The Golden Griffins defeated the Red Flash 11-4 in the home and season opener in 2006.
The Red Flash is looking for its sixth home-opening win in the last 13 years.

collegiate firsts

Freshmen Chyler Espino and Christina Roncarati both made their collegiate debut in the starting lineup against Youngstown State on Feb. 18.
Roncarati notched her first collegiate tally in the game against Youngstown State.
All eight freshmen saw action in the season opener against Youngstown State.

aye, aye, captain

Graduate student Amanda Heidt and senior Autumn McHenry have been named team captains.
In addition, junior Kelly Dickson and sophomores Danielle Hernandez and Kateri Hernandez have been named to the lacrosse leadership council.

returning all-nec performers

Senior Autumn McHenry returns after earning All-NEC second-team honors in 2021.
McHenry was also selected to the All-NEC Rookie team in 2018.
Sophomore Danielle Hernandez was selected to the All-NEC Rookie team last season.

welcome to the lo'

Saint Francis head coach Tracy Coyne has added eight players to the team for the 2022 season.
Nancy Alden, Olivia Baldini, Taylor Coughlin, Chyler Espino, Makayla Murray, Sophia Mellis, Colleen Roche, Christina Roncarati all joined the team this season.
In addition, assistant coach Sophia Thomas comes to Loretto after playing at Arizona State in the Pac-12.

from the great white north

Saint Francis has two players that hail from Canada in Olivia Baldini (Hamilton, Ontario) and Taylor Coughlin (Hespeler, Ontario) on its roster.
Head coach Tracy Coyne also spend some time as the Canadian National Team head coach from 1999-2005 and earned fourth-place standings in the 2001 and 2005 World Cups.

community service honors

Saint Francis received the IWLCA Community Service Award in 2021. Saint Francis was selected as the winner of the award out of 118 Division I programs.
The Red Flash remained active throughout a unique year for community service in 2020-21, beginning in August with "Flash Packs with Love" to collect, organize, and distribute back-to-school supplies to local elementary schools.
The team spearheaded a diversity and inclusion initiative which featured sales of a t-shirt they designed to benefit the Black Student Union.
Other team activities included a Thanksgiving food basket drive, adopting a local family over the holidays to provide Christmas presents, the Make-a-Wish Walk, the "Minis4Many" fundraiser for a local shelter, collecting donations for the Soles4Souls organization, a Paper Bridges letter writing campaign for orphans, and a Gameday Hair Havoc awareness game to raise money for the HeadStrong Foundation.

about the coach

Head coach Tracy Coyne enters her third season at Saint Francis and her 30th campaign in her legendary career.
She holds a 299-205 career record to be one of 27 coaches in the NCAA with at least 250 wins, and would become one of 20 coaches to reach 300 wins with one victory.
She has led 12 teams to the NCAA Tournament between the NCAA DI and DIII levels with six conference championships and several NCAA Final Four appearances.