PRINCETON, N.J. – The Saint Francis Red Flash Water Polo team will make their first trip to Ann Arbor, Michigan this season to challenge Bucknell, Salem, Iona, and the hosting school Michigan University. The Red Flash will face tough competition as they face two ranked teams in the CWPA polls this weekend led by Michigan who is currently ranked #7 in the country. 

Location: Canham Natatorium (Ann Arbor, Mich.)

Game 1: Saint Francis vs. #25 Bucknell
Date and Time: Saturday, March 5th – 10:00 a.m.
How to Watch: Big Ten Plus, Facebook Live
Game 2: Saint Francis vs. Salem
Date and Time: Saturday, March 5th – 3:00 p.m.
How to Watch: Big Ten Plus, Facebook Live
Game 3: Saint Francis vs. #7 Michigan
Date and Time: Sunday, March. 6 – 10:30 a.m.
How to Watch: Big Ten Plus, Facebook Live
Game 4: Saint Francis vs. Iona
Date and Time: Sunday, March 6th– 1:30 p.m.
How to Watch: Big Ten Plus, Facebook Live

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SCOUTING THE BISON
This is now the second time the Red Flash will play against Bucknell with the first contest being a close loss to the Bison 11-8 on February 12th. Bucknell comes into this game with a 6-5 overall record and a 2-4 conference record. Bucknell is guided on offense by sophomore attacker Isabelle Monaghan who scored a combined nine goals in the four matchups the Bison had last weekend. In net, freshman Annika Lampen continues to impress for the Bison notching 21 saves in the four games she appeared in at Bucknell last weekend.

In the first game this season freshman Kimberly Frostad made her impression felt with a team-leading three goals. Addison Williams added two goals for the Red Flash as they came up just short against the Bison in February. Isabel Lumley was the lone goaltender in that contest collecting 12 saves in the minutes she played for Saint Francis.

SCOUTING THE TIGERS
The Red Flash will then face off against the Salem Tigers for the first time during the 2022 season. Salem goes into Ann Arbor with a 5-10 overall record as they have faced tough competition so far battling perennial top five teams such as Stanford and Hawaii this year. Salem is led on offense by Annefleur ten Bloemendel who leads the team in shots and goals by a wide margin with 44 goals on a whopping 93 shots. In goal, Salem has been guided by Phillipa Piper who has 170 saves in 14 games started in the 2022 season. Piper can also impact the game in other ways with 18 assists and 11 steals to help her team in those categories.

The last time these two teams played each other was March 7th, 2021 where the Red Flash were able to escape with a win in a 10-9 nail biter of a game. Abbie Carter was the leading scorer for Saint Francis with three goals, while Addison Williams and Haiden Lang each found the back of the net twice for the Red Flash. Saint Francis has a 5-2 overall record agaisnt the Tigers dating back to their first meeting in the 2019 season.  

SCOUTING THE WOLVERINES
The Red Flash go up against the Michigan Wolverines who are 9-7 on the season with 15 out of their 16 opponents so far being ranked teams. Graduate student Maddie O'Reilly leads the Wolverines in their three major offensive categories such as goals with 31, shots with 76, and assists notching 26 for Michigan this year. The Wolverines have eight players with double-digit point totals so far in the 2022 season. In net for the Wolverines is Alex Brown who's started 16 games for Michigan and converting on 111 saves with 10 steals on the season as well.

Junior Emese Szucs was able to get two goals for the Red Flash in their last meeting in 2021 with Taylor Halbauer also notching a goal for the Red Flash in that contest. This is the first of two scheduled matchups for the Red Flash against the Wolverines with the second contest scheduled for April 10th in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

SCOUTING THE GAELS
In the final gam of the weekend the Red Flash will face off against the Iona Gaels for the second and final time during the 2022 season. The Gaels come into the weekend with a 6-5 overall record just recently coming off of a close loss to La Salle University.  Jordan van Reeken leads the charge on offense for Iona with 34 goals on 79 shots. Maeve Ellen Wydan also has produced for the Gaels leading the team with 15 assists while also chipping in 22 goals for Iona. Mary Jane Bailey has been the main goalie in between the pipes this season with a team-high 86 saves while also converting on nine steals for the Gaels.

In their first matchup of the season, junior Carissa Semple had her best scoring game of the season notching four goals for the Red Flash. Emese Szucs was able to get three in the back of th net, while Frostad had two goals of her own but it wasn't enough as the Red Flash narrowly lost to the Gaels 17-11 on February 12th.


THE RED FLASH
Saint Francis looks to get some big wins this weekend in Ann Arbor as they were able to stop their losing streak against Mount St. Mary's last weekend to get back in the win column. Red Flash freshman Kimberly Frostad led the way last weekend with seven goals in the four games played at Bucknell last weekend. Saint Francis will look to capitalize on the man advantages this weekend to help them get better chances to get points on the board against strong teams such as Bucknell and Michigan. Isabel Lumley and Grace Raquel split duties in net last weekend as the duo will look to shut down the opposition to help Saint Francis on the defensive side of the game.