Saint Francis held a 3-1 lead after one quarter, but then was held to one goal over nearly the next 36 minutes, while the Sharks posted 10 goals In that span en route to an 11-7 victory. After Russo made it a one-goal game with 37 seconds left in the first half, the Red Flash won the ensuing draw control, but after a shot was blocked LIU raced down and scored with 3.3 seconds on the clock to give the Sharks a two-goal lead going into the locker room.
FLASH QUOTES
"This is a disappointing loss and not how we wanted to start conference play. We came out strong but once LIU switched into the backer defense our attack couldn't adjust. That was the difference in the game. We had unforced errors at different points along with mental mistakes that didn't help the situation. Elyssa had a few spectacular saves that kept us competitive, especially in the first half."
- head coach Tracy Coyne on the game
"The highlight of the day was Autumn reaching the career milestone of 100 points. She is an outstanding role model and leader. Autumn puts the work in to make her game better so it's well-deserved that her name will appear in the record book."
- Coyne on McHenry
FLASH MOMENTS
Saint Francis came into the game winners of five of its last six against the Sharks at DeGol Field and the start of the match looked like the Red Flash would continue that trend after taking a 3-1 lead after 15 minutes.
Christina Roncarati (East Long Meadow, Mass.) got the scoring started with an unassisted goal at 12:53, Hernandez then recorded consecutive scores on an unassisted tally at 3:35 and right before the first quarter horned sound with 0.5 seconds on the clock for a 3-1 edge.
Russo scored off an assist from Hernandez with 37 seconds left in the second quarter. The senior notched her second goal of the day off a feed from
Lizzie Fisher (Hagerstown, Md.) with 9:16 left in the fourth quarter.
McHenry then hit the milestone when she took a pass from her co-captain Heidt with 8:25 left in the game. Heidt then twinkled the twine unassisted at 2:34 to set the final score.
FLASH NUGGETS
McHenry becomes the 11th player in program history to reach 100 points in her career after posting her 54th career goal to go along with 46 career assists. The senior, who already sits in fifth place in both assists and draw controls in program history, can crack the Top-10 in points with four more points. McHenry added two ground balls, two draw controls and a caused turnover on the afternoon and can move into fourth place for career draws with two more draws.
Hernandez registered her third two-goal performance this season and the seventh of her career. The sophomore, who had 12 tallies and two assists as a freshman, has seven markers and six assists In 2022. She also had three draw controls and a ground ball.
Russo notched her sixth multi-goal performance of her career and her first since scoring two goals at Wagner on Apr. 24, 2021. She has seven goals and three assists this season and 23 goals and 11 assists for 34 points in career.
Since being held scoreless against Central Michigan on Mar. 4, Heidt has tallied 15 goals and five assists for 20 points in her last five games. Just like McHenry did on Saturday, Heidt is closing in on milestones, needing 13 points for 100 points in her career and five goals to crack the Top-10 in career goals.
Enrique matched her career best total for saves with 18 saves that she also had at Bryant on Apr. 10, 2021. It is the third time this season and the fifth time in her career she has turned away 15 shots in a game. Enrique needs nine saves to reach 300 saves in her career.
Kelly Dickson (Blue Bell, Pa.) had a team-high three ground balls and a draw control, while Roncarati had a team-best three draw controls.
Chyler Espino (San Francisco, Calif.) and
C.C. Courter (Verona, N.J.) each had two ground balls and two caused turnovers in the match.
UP NEXT
Saint Francis will host Howard on Wednesday. Match time is 2 p.m.
