» It was only fitting on Senior Day, the 2022 Saint Francis University senior class registered 13 of the 18 goals scored to lead the Red Flash to an 18-14 win against Central Connecticut State on Saturday.
» Amanda Heidt (Erie, Pa.) led the way for the Loretto program with five goals and an assist. She joined the 100-point club with her assist on Nancy Alden's goal at the 8:26 mark in the first quarter.
» Autumn McHenry (Branford, Conn.) added four goals, two assists and a career-high nine draw controls, while Catherine Russo (Wantagh, N.Y.) notched her third career hat trick and C.C. Courter (Verona, N.J.) also twinkled the twine on senior day.
» Elyssa Enrique (North Canton, Ohio) made 14 saves in her final game at DeGol Field.
Trailing 4-3 with 6:27 left in the first quarter, Saint Francis rolled off seven of the next eight tallies to take the lead for good.
Christina Roncarati (East Longmeadow, Mass.) tied the game at 4 with 4:26 left in the first half and then McHenry gave the Red Flash the lead it would not relinquish on unassisted marker with 43 seconds left In the first quarter.
Courter started the scoring in the second frame 21 seconds into the quarter for a 6-4 edge.
After the Blue Devils momentarily halted the spurt, Heidt registered a natural hat trick with unassisted markers at 12:31 and 11:44. The graduate student completed the natural hat trick in one minute and 38 seconds off a feed from fellow captain McHenry at 10:53.
Russo then found the twine while we got a look at the future of Saint Francis lacrosse with
Colleen Roche's (Orlando, Fla.) first collegiate assist on the play at 10:15.
FLASH MOMENTS
McHenry scored the first two goals of the game at 12:22 and 8:32 before Heidt won the draw control and found a wide-open
Nancy Alden to tie the game and give Heidt her 100 career point at 8:26.
After the Red Flash took a 10-6 lead, McHenry and Heidt connected for the second time on the afternoon at 6:30 in the second quarter.
McHenry notched her sixth career game with a career-best four goals when she found the twine unassisted at 9:01 in the third quarter before Heidt notched her fifth goal of the game to match her season high for the third time this season at 7:14 in the third quarter. The squad then closed the frame with three-straight goals by Roncarati (1:52),
Julea Jamison (Pittsburgh, Pa.) (1:03) and Russo from Roche for the second time with 43 seconds left in the third quarter for a 16-10 lead.
Alden scored her second goal of the day at 13:06 in the fourth quarter, while Jamison connected with Russo at 11:38 to complete the scoring for Saint Francis, and the Red Flash held on for an 18-14 lead.
FLASH NUGGETS
Heidt, who ironically reached the 100-point mark on her 14th career assist, now ranks seventh in program history with 91 goals and sits in 10th place with 104 points. She also came into the match with eight career draw controls and she corralled a career-high 10 draws on Saturday. The senior has posted five goals and one assist for six points three times this season after also reaching the feat against Kent State on Mar. 19 and against Howard 11 days later. She also has a six-point game from last season when she registered a career-high six tallies against Merrimack.
McHenry did not make any movement on the all-time charts, but moved into seventh place on the single-season chart for points (52) and 10th in assists for a season with 17. The senior already had the sixth-most assists in a season in 2021 with 20 helpers and also sits in third place this season for draw controls with 75. McHenry is third on the career charts in draw controls (154), fourth in assists (56) and eighth in points (124).
Russo has had three hat tricks in her career. She registered a hat trick at Howard last year and at DeGol Field against the Bison earlier this year. She posted two three-goal performances in the same season for the first time in her career and has eight multi-goal performances in her career. Courter notched a goal in a game for the sixth time in her career. Courter added four ground balls and a caused turnover.
Enrique, who ranks fourth in career saves with 354, has registered double figures in. saves eight times this season and 18 times in her career.
Kelly Dickson (Blue Bell, Pa.) added four ground balls and two caused turnovers, while
Chyler Espino (San Francisco, Calif.) posted two ground balls, two caused turnovers and three draw controls.
Saint Francis also celebrated the 20th Anniversary of the first season and several women's lacrosse alums were in attendance, including Lauren Kerley Conley C'12, Jenna Griffiths C' 12, Katie Dacanay Siniawski C'12, Morgan Day C'20, Liv Baker C'21,
Katie Kincaid C'21 and
Peyton LeConte C'21.
In addition, Saint Francis raised awareness for a healthy relationship with One Love. Before the game, several teams and others walked around the track and a free tailgate took place turning the game. The Saint Francis women's lacrosse team also wore special One Love t-shirts. One Love Foundation is a national non-profit organization with the goal of ending relationship abuse. We empower young people with the tools and resources they need to see the signs of healthy and unhealthy relationships and bring life-saving prevention education to their communities. For more information, go to: www.joinonelove.org.
UP NEXT
Saint Francis wraps up the regular season at Sacred Heart on April 30. Match time is 1 p.m.
