» The television show "This is Us" is about three people called the "Big Three." The Saint Francis University "Big Three" in Autumn McHenry (Branford, Conn.), Amanda Heidt (Erie, Pa.) and Lizzie Fisher (Hagerstown, Md.) combined for 20 points to power the Red Flash past Howard University 21-5 in Northeast Conference (NEC) women's lacrosse action on Wednesday.
» McHenry had another huge offensive day with four goals and four assists. Fisher posted three tallies and three helpers, while Heidt had a team-high five goals and an assist.
» Catherine Russo (Wantagh, N.Y.) tied her career high with three goals, and added two assists, and Julea Jamison (Pittsburgh, Pa.) also notched her first collegiate hat trick along with a helper.
» Kelly Dickson (Blue Bell, Pa.) paced the defense with four caused turnovers, four ground balls and four draw controls, while Danielle Hernandez (New Fairfield, Conn.) had five draw controls and two caused turnovers to go along with her two twine twinklers.
Saint Francis jumped out to an early 4-0 lead and never really looked back. Fisher found the back of the net 33 seconds into the contest off a feed behind the cage from
Nancy Alden (East Lyme, Conn.) for the first score of the afternoon. Heidt was then awarded a free-position shot and she found McHenry in front of the cage for a two-goal lead at 13:07. McHenry then converted an 8-meter shot at 12:51 and Russo found Fisher 18 seconds later for a four-goal lead.
Howard scored with 10:49 left in the first quarter, but that did not stop the streaking Red Flash who had a running clock by the end of the first half and then sustained that clock for the final 17 minutes of the game.
FLASH QUOTES
"I was really pleased with how well we played today. The best team wins are when everyone contributes. We started off strong but finishing the game with a 4th quarter shutout showed how disciplined and focused the defensive unit played today. Earlier in the week, we set very specific team goals. Setting the record for fewest goals allowed in a conference game demonstrates how committed we are to changing the direction of the program."
- head coach Tracy Coyne
"Amanda is a natural goal scorer and a really savvy finisher. It's nice to see her enter the top 10 for career goals. We're all happy she has the opportunity to score a few more goals this season!!"
- Coyne on Heidt cracking the Top-10 in goals in program history
FLASH MOMENTS
Dickson picked up a ground ball, passed the ball ahead to Russo, who found Jamison streaking down the field for an easy transition goal at 7:21 in the first quarter to start another 4-0 spurt. McHenry connected with Hernandez at 6:36 before Russo (4:41) and Heidt (3:21) both buried 8-meter shots for an 8-1 lead. Heidt had another free-position goal at 2:31 in the first quarter to give the Loretto program a 9-2 lead after the first 15 minutes.
Saint Francis scored the only three goals of the second quarter after McHenry found the twine unassisted at 13:25 and then Russo scored off a Fisher feed at 9:44 before Fisher notched a twine twinkler off an Alden pass at 6:28.
The Russo-Fisher connection continued in the third quarter at 9:14.
After the Bison made it a 13-5 game, the Red Flash posted the final eight goals of the match. Heidt from McHenry started the run at 5:08 before McHenry connected with Hernandez at 2:27 and Jamison handed out a feeder to McHenry with 21 seconds left for a 16-5 lead after three quarters.
Jamison started the final frame with an unassisted tally at 13:26 before Heidt found the back of the net off McHenry's fourth assist of the day at 8:24. Fisher got her career-best fourth assist in to Jamison at 8:24 before Heidt found the twine for the fifth time off a pass from Alden at 3:26.
C.C. Courter (Verona, N.J.) notched her first goal of the season to cap the win in the final minute of the game to set the final score at 21-5.
FLASH NUGGETS
McHenry registered at least seven points for the second time in three games and has posted at least three tallies three times this season, while registering all 11 assists in her last five matches. The senior added three ground balls, three caused turnovers and six draw controls. It is the fourth time this year she has hauled in at least five draws and has now moved into third place the program's all-time career list in draw controls with 123 draw controls. With her eight points, McHenry jumped into ninth place with 108 career points.
Heidt's five goals now gives her 79 for her career to crack the program's all-time career goals list, tying former teammate
Livia Baker (79, 2017-21) for the 10th spot. In addition, she needs eight points to join McHenry in the 100-point club. The senior has registered five goals twice in her last four games and three times in her last two seasons.
Fisher has notched a career-best six points for the second-straight Wednesday. After posting four tallies and two assists against Delaware State seven days ago, the junior recorded three goals and three assists against Howard on Wednesday. In her last four games, Fisher has nine markers and eight assists for 17 points, including dishing out two assists or more three times in that stretch.
Russo had one career hat trick and that came against Howard in the last meeting on March 6, 2020 before she matched that performance on Wednesday. The senior has posted back-to-back multi-goal performances for the second time in her career. She added two assists for the fourth time in her career.
Alden notched her first three collegiate assists and now has three goals and three assists for six points in her career.
Dickson notched her second career assist in the game and has registered four ground balls twice in her last three games. She also registered a career-high four caused turnovers along with hauling in four draw controls, one shy of her career-high.
Hernandez has scored two goals in four-straight games and has eight multi-goal performances in her two seasons in Loretto, while she has nabbed at least five draw controls and two caused turnovers twice this season.
Chyler Espino (San Francisco, Calif.), the current NEC Rookie of the Week, had two ground balls and two caused turnovers. Courter also had two ground balls and two caused turnovers to go along with her first score of the year.
Christina Roncarati (East Long Meadow, Mass.) grabbed a career-high five draw controls.
Elyssa Enrique (North Canton, Ohio), the current NEC Defensive Player of the Week, made four saves over the first 45 minutes of the game to earn her fourth win of the season.
Saint Francis won 22 of the 29 draw controls in the game. The 21 goals equals the 21 tallies the Red Flash registered against Merrimack on March 21, 2021. The Warriors are the next opponent for the Red Flash when they return home.
The squad set a program record with fewest goals allowed in league play with five goals, breaking the mark set against Robert Morris (April 6, 2005) and Central Connecticut State (March 20, 2021) with six goals allowed in those matches. It also marked the 11th time the squad held an NEC opponent under 10 goals and for the fourth time in the last two seasons.
UP NEXT
Saint Francis returns to action at Wagner College on Saturday. Game time is 1 p.m.
