Central Michigan jumped out to a 5-1 lead after the first quarter. After Saint Francis trimmed the margin to 5-3 early in the second quarter to force a timeout, the Chippewas then closed the game by scoring 13 of the final 16 markers en route to an 18-6 decision in the first-ever meeting in Loretto.
FLASH QUOTES
"There were a lot of mishaps to start the game while some were unforced errors and some were unlucky, but after that happened we did not rebound from that very well. Central Michigan pointed out areas that we need to improve"
- head coach Tracy Coyne on the game
"The focus will be on us. We need to move at a quicker pace on attack, move the ball better and be willing to put the ball in someone's stick that is open in the middle. We can be better once we have a week to fine tune some of the things that were evident that were weaknesses against Central Michigan."
- Coyne on moving forward toward the next game at Longwood
FLASH MOMENTS
Roncarati, who scored four of the last five tallies in the home opener against Canisius on Feb. 23, recorded the first two tallies of the match for the Red Flash. The freshman cut the margin to 2-1 with an unassisted tally at 9:14 and then posted the first goal of the second quarter at 13:26.
Hernandez found the twine for the first time this season to cut the margin to 5-3 at 12:59 in the second quarter.
Autumn McHenry (Branford, Conn.) scored four the fourth-straight game this season and the sixth-consecutive match dating back to last year at the 2:22 mark in the second quarter.
Fisher scored her first tally of the afternoon off a feed from Hernandez at 10:09 in the third quarter. The junior then twinkled the twine for the second time off a connection from
Kelly Dickson (Blue Bell, Pa.) at 11:02 in the fourth frame.
FLASH NUGGETS
Roncarati scored in the season opener against Youngstown State for her lone goal on the road, but has posted six goals at home to rank third on the team with seven goals for seven points.
Fisher has registered a multi-goal performance in all three games she has played this season and now has four multi-goal performances in her career. The junior also scored in three-straight games she has played for the first time in her career. Fisher is second on the squad with seven tallies and an assist for eight points.
Hernandez notched a goal and an assist in the same game for the first time in her career. The sophomore had six games with goals last season and had two assists in her collegiate debut against Akron on February 28, 2021, but did not register both stats in the same game until Friday. In addition, she doubled her career-high in draw controls with six on the day.
McHenry, who leads the team with nine goals for nine points, also fuels the team with 16 draw controls after grabbing five on Friday. McHenry has netted at least three draw controls in all four games this season and now has 97 for her career. McHenry will become the fifth player in program history to reach 100 draw controls in her career with her next three draws. She has corralled at least three draw controls 18 times in her four-year career and hauled in five draw controls in a match five times in her career.
Dickson had a goal in her first season at Howard on March 6, 2020, but her assist to Fisher was her first collegiate helper.
UP NEXT
Saint Francis will have a week to prepare for its next contest against Longwood on March 12. Match time is 1 p.m. The Red Flash will then return to Loretto for four of its next five games, starting with Presbyterian on March 15.
