LORETTO, PA. – The Saint Francis Water Polo team will make their first trip to the west coast this season to challenge Wagner, Austin, UC San Diego, and the hosting school San Diego State. The Red Flash will once again face tough competition in California as they square off against three CWPA ranked teams out of the four matchups over the weekend.

Location: Aztec Aquaplex (San Diego, CA.)

Game 1: Saint Francis vs. Wagner
Date and Time: Friday, March 11th – 1:00 p.m.

Game 2: Saint Francis vs. San Diego State
Date and Time: Friday, March 11th – 5:00 p.m.

Game 3: Saint Francis vs. Austin
Date and Time: Saturday, March 12th – 12:00 p.m.

Game 4: Saint Francis vs. UC San Diego
Date and Time: Saturday, March 12th– 3:30 p.m.

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SCOUTING THE SEAHAWKS
Wagner goes into the upcoming weekend being one of the hottest teams in the CWPA with a 15-2 overall record and riding a 13 game winning streak. During that streak, the Seahawks have defeated five ranked teams while being on the road or neutral site for all of their contests. On offense, Wagner is led by sophomore utility player Andrea Arias who last weekend scored nine goals for the Seahawks to help them beat ranked opponents such as Indiana and Brown. In net, the senior Mikaela Wells has accrued the most playing time while being consistent not only with saves but with steals and assist as well.

This will be the first time that the Red Flash and the Seahawks face off since the opening weekend of the 2020 season where Abbie Carter and Addison Williams both notched two goals as freshmen at the time. This will only be the fourth meeting all time between the two schools with the Red Flash still searching for their first win over Wagner.

SCOUTING THE AZTECS
The Red Flash will then face off against the San Diego State Aztecs for the first time during the 2022 season. The Aztecs come into the weekend with a 4-8 overall record but are also winners of three in a row. San Diego State is led on offense by Rose Kannemy who tallied eight goals for the Aztecs in their two wins over ranked opponents such as Princeton and CSUN. In goal, the Aztecs has been guided by both Raquel De Pinho and Zoe Morgan as most recently Morgan had eight saves and three steals against Princeton.

The last time these two teams played each other was during the 2019 season where the Aztecs narrowly defeated the Red Flash 12-7. Saint Francis was four of nine on the power play in that contest so they will look for the same type of man advantage success in this upcoming game.

SCOUTING THE KANGAROOS
The Red Flash go up against the Austin Kangaroos who are only 2-2 on the season due to their first four games of the season being canceled. Going into last week the Kangaroos were ranked eighth in Division III. Austin is led by Lexi Wong who had nine goals in their opening weekend and Sophie Oliver who collected eight goals for the Kangaroos. Valery Piachonkina guides the Kangaroos in net totaling 21 saves against Fresno Pacific and Chapman last weekend. 

This will be the first ever matchup for the Red Flash against the Austin Kangaroos as they look to get Saturday off to a good start in this contest at San Diego State.

SCOUTING THE TRITONS
In the final game of the weekend the Red Flash will face off against the UC San Diego Tritons for the first time during the 2022 season. The Tritons come into the weekend with a 12-7 overall record with five of those wins coming against ranked opponents. The Tritons are riding a four game winning streak with their last loss coming against Indiana on February 26th. Graduate student Ciara Franke leads the charge for the Tritons with 39 goals and 43 points, both leading the team. UC San Diego also had four players that have reached the 20 goal plateau during the 2022 season so far. Bennet Bugelli has logged the most minutes for the Tritons in net tallying 99 saves and 10 steals for UC San Diego.

This will only be the second matchup ever between the Red Flash and the Tritons with the first contest taking place during the 2019 season where Saint Francis fell short to the Tritons.

THE RED FLASH
Saint Francis comes into this weekend series after going 2-2 in Ann Arbor, Michigan with one of those wins coming against ranked opponent Bucknell. Taylor Halbauer led the Red Flash in scoring last weekend with seven goals to lead the Red Flash with Emese Szucs following up with five herself. Isabel Lumley recorded 25 saves last weekend for the Red Flash and scored her first collegiate goal against Iona last Sunday. The Red Flash will have six players return to their home state of California for the first time as a college player, the list includes Addison Williams, Haiden Lang, Maysen Seile, Kayla Rhoads, Tori Navarro, and Taylor Simon. This will be the last weekend the Red Flash compete until they come back home against Mount St. Mary's on March 25th, this will also be Senior Day as Rebecca Pendleton and Julia Bradford will be recognized for their contributions to the program.