Saint Francis WLAX Concludes Regular Season At Sacred Heart On Saturday

Saint Francis University (5-10, 2-5 NEC) at Sacred Heart University (5-10, 3-4 NEC)
Date \| Time	Saturday, April 30, 2022 \| 12 p.m.
Location	Fairfield, Conn. \| Campus Field
Television	NEC Front Row
Live Stats	Sidearm
Stats	Saint Francis \| SFU Career Highs \| Sacred Heart \| Northeast Conference
Social Media	@RedFlashLax \| @RedFlashLax \| Facebook

GAME NOTES VS. SACRED HEART

opening draw

Saturday's game between Saint Francis University and Sacred Heart University marks the 20th meeting in the all-time series dating back to the 2002 season.
The Red Flash has won the last four meetings in the series including sweeping the two matches last year.

about the pioneers

Sacred Heart comes into the contest 5-10 overall and 3-4 in Northeast Conference play after defeating Merrimack on Wednesday.
Lydia Werlau leads the team with 39 goals and 15 assists for 54 points.
Grace Reinold is second on the squad with 26 tallies and 10 assists for 36 points, while Emma Kittredge is third with 23 goals and three assists for 26 points.
Natalie Cook leads the defense with 16 caused turnovers and 22 ground balls, while Claire McElhenny has a team-best 64 draw controls and 31 ground balls.
Bella Beaton leads the team with 98 saves, an 8.43 goals against average and a .594 save percentage.

last time we met

Amanda Heidt scored the final two goals of the game in the final 108 seconds to propel Saint Francis past Sacred Heart on April 3, 2021. Heidt finished the game with four goals.
Autumn McHenry added a tally and three assists, while Danielle Hernandez and Emileigh Scott each added a hat trick.
Emma Kittredge and Kerri Metzler both registered a hat trick for the Pioneers.
Elyssa Enrique turned away 12 shots for the Red Flash and Bella Beaton had 11 stops for Sacred Heart.

last time out

Saint Francis lost to Bryant on April 15.
Amanda Heidt and Autumn McHenry each had two goals for the Red Flash.

next time out

This match marks the final match of the season.
The squad has won at least five games in a season for the sixth time and with a win would post six wins for the fourth time in program history.

prime performers

Amanda Heidt was named the NEC Player of the Week for the week of Apr. 18-24. Heidt and Autumn McHenry were named Prime Performers. For, McHenry it was the seventh time in 10 weeks. The Loretto program has earned seven major weekly awards from the league this season to set a new program record for major weekly awards during season. The 2017 team held the previous mark with six. Heidt posted five goals, an assist and a career-high 10 draw controls in an 18-14 win against Central Connecticut State on Apr. 23.McHenry added four markers and two assists for six points and a career-best nine draws.
Christina Roncarati was named the NEC Rookie of the Week for the week of Apr. 11-17 to become the first player in program history to earn three weekly honors in the same season. She also became just the second player in team history to earn back-to-back weekly honors. Roncarati tallied three goals for three points, along with five draw controls and two ground balls.
Roncarati was named the NEC Rookie of the Week for the week of Apr. 4-10. McHenry was named a Prime Performer for the sixth time out of eight weeks. Roncarati registered a goal, three draw controls and two ground balls for the Red Flash against Merrimack, while McHenry had four goals, an assist and four draw controls against the Warriors.
McHenry was named the NEC Player of the Week for the week of Mar. 28-Apr. 3. McHenry and Heidt were also selected as NEC Prime Performers for their standout performances. McHenry earned her first major league weekly award after posting eight goals and six assists for 14 points along with 14 draw controls, five ground balls and five caused turnovers for the Red Flash in a 1-1 week. Heidt, who was the last Red Flash player to earn NEC Player of the Week honors on Apr. 5, 2021, posted seven goals and an assist for eight points for the Red Flash in the two matches.
Elyssa Enrique was named the NEC Defensive Player of the Week and Chyler Espino was selected as the NEC Rookie of the Week for the week of Mar. 21-27. Enrique and McHenry were also named NEC Prime Performers. Enrique earns her first career NEC Defensive Player of the Week honor and her third Prime Performer recognition this season after registering 25 saves, a .581 save percentage and a 9.00 goals against average in a 1-1 week for the Red Flash. Espino nabs her first NEC Rookie of the Week honor after helping to anchor the Red Flash defense that allowed 9.00 goals against average in the week. Statistically she had a team-best five caused turnovers, four ground balls and two draw controls. McHenry tied the program record for assists in a single game and finished the week with two goals and six assists for eight points, while adding nine draw controls, five ground balls and two caused turnovers.
Enrique, Heidt and McHenry were named NEC Prime Performers for the week of Mar. 14-20. Enrique registered 25 saves in the two games. Heidt registered nine goals and an assist, while McHenry had five goals and an assist.
Roncarati was named the NEC Rookie of the Week for the week of Feb. 28-Mar. 6. The freshman registered two goals against Central Michigan on Mar. 4
Enrique and McHenry were named NEC Prime Performers for the week of Feb. 21-27. Enrique registered 23 saves in the week and held Akron to six goals in a 10-6 win on Feb. 27. McHenry posted six goals, seven draw controls, a ground ball and a caused turnover in the week.
McHenry was named an NEC Prime Performer for the week of Feb. 14-20. She registered two goals, four draw controls, two caused turnovers and two ground balls against Youngstown State on Feb. 18.

career afternoons

Autumn McHenry has tied her career-high of four goals in a game five times this season and has reached the feat six times in her career, including four of the last six matches. She tied her career high and the program record for assists in a game with six against Delaware State on Mar. 23. McHenry also scooped up a career-high nine draw controls against Central Connecticut State on Apr. 23.
Amanda Heidt has tied her career high with six points three times this season including senior day. The graduate student also had a career-best 10 draw controls against the Blue Devils.
Lizzie Fisher (four goals, two assists, six points) and Nancy Alden (two goals) each established new career bests at Delaware State. Fisher matched her career point total and set a new assist personal best with three helpers against Howard on Mar. 30, while Alden dished out a career-best three assists on the day.
Julea Jamison registered a career-high three goals against Howard, while Catherine Russo posted a hat trick against Howard for the second time in her career.
Christina Roncarati notched a career-high four goals against Canisius on Feb. 23. She is the third player on the team to register a four-goal performance.
The Red Flash as a team set a new program record with fewest goals allowed in a league game with five against Howard. It was the 11th time the squad has held an NEC opponent to single digits and the fourth time in the last two seasons.

collegiate firsts

Freshman Colleen Roche notched her first two career assists against Central Connecticut State on Apr. 23.
Junior Julea Jamison notched her first career goal and assist against Kent State on Mar. 19.
Freshmen Chyler Espino and Christina Roncarati both made their collegiate debut in the starting lineup against Youngstown State on Feb. 18.
Roncarati notched her first collegiate tally in the game against Youngstown State.
All eight freshmen saw action in the season opener against Youngstown State.
Nancy Alden registered her first career start and goal against Canisius on Feb. 23. She had her first career assist against Delaware State on Mar. 30.
Espino and Sophia Mellis each notched their first collegiate assist against Merrimack on Apr. 9.

career milestone watch

Autumn McHenry became the fifth player in program history to grab 100 draw controls in her career after hauling in three draw controls against Longwood on Mar. 13.
McHenry has moved into third place in program history in draw controls (154) and needs 46 to cross the 200 draw control mark. The senior is fourth in career assists with 56 and can move into second place with four helpers.
McHenry became the 11th player in team history to reach 100 points in her career with her score against LIU on Mar. 26, and moved into the Top-10 against Howard on Mar. 30. Currently standing at 130 points in eighth place, she can move into seventh place with one point, and sixth place with a career-high nine points.
Amanda Heidt has 91 goals to sit in seventh place after she cracked the Top-10 with five goals against Howard. She can move into sixth place with four scores, and can become the sixth player in team history with 100 career goals with nine tallies. Heidt became the 12th player in team history with 100 career points with her assist in the first quarter against Central Connecticut State on Apr. 23.
Elyssa Enrique reached 300 saves in her career against Wagner. She now has 354 saves to sit in fourth place in program history.

season milestone watch

Senior Autumn McHenry has put her assault on the career record books and is starting to crack into the all-time season lists in program history. She already sits in third place with her 75 draw controls and will probably end the season in that standing since she needs 21 draws to move into second place.
McHenry also moved into seventh place for points in a season with 54 points and can move into fifth place with three points, fourth place with four points and third place with nine points. The senior also needs two goals to move into the Top-10 on the single-season chart, currently sitting at 35 tallies. In addition, she cracked the Top-10 in assists in a season for 2022 with 17 after joining that list last season after dishing out 20 assists in 2021. She can move into eighth place for assists with one assist, seventh with two dimes, sixth with three helpers and fifth with four assists. With two goals, she would also become just the second player in team history to register Top-10 single-season marks in goals, assists, points and draw controls.
Amanda Heidt also have sights on the points (52) and goals (39) season Top-10. Heidt has 35 tallies and 44 points this season.

aye, aye, captain

Graduate student Amanda Heidt and senior Autumn McHenry have been named team captains.
In addition, junior Kelly Dickson and sophomores Danielle Hernandez and Kateri Hernandez have been named to the lacrosse leadership council.

returning all-nec performers

Senior Autumn McHenry returns after earning All-NEC second-team honors in 2021.
McHenry was also selected to the All-NEC Rookie team in 2018.
Sophomore Danielle Hernandez was selected to the All-NEC Rookie team last season.

welcome to the lo'

Saint Francis head coach Tracy Coyne has added eight players to the team for the 2022 season.
Nancy Alden, Olivia Baldini, Taylor Coughlin, Chyler Espino, Makayla Murray, Sophia Mellis, Colleen Roche, Christina Roncarati all joined the team this season.
In addition, assistant coach Sophia Thomas comes to Loretto after playing at Arizona State in the Pac-12.

from the great white north

Saint Francis has two players that hail from Canada in Olivia Baldini (Hamilton, Ontario) and Taylor Coughlin (Hespeler, Ontario) on its roster.
Head coach Tracy Coyne also spend some time as the Canadian National Team head coach from 1999-2005 and earned fourth-place standings in the 2001 and 2005 World Cups.

community service honors

Saint Francis received the IWLCA Community Service Award in 2021. Saint Francis was selected as the winner of the award out of 118 Division I programs.
The Red Flash remained active throughout a unique year for community service in 2020-21, beginning in August with "Flash Packs with Love" to collect, organize, and distribute back-to-school supplies to local elementary schools.
The team spearheaded a diversity and inclusion initiative which featured sales of a t-shirt they designed to benefit the Black Student Union.
Other team activities included a Thanksgiving food basket drive, adopting a local family over the holidays to provide Christmas presents, the Make-a-Wish Walk, the "Minis4Many" fundraiser for a local shelter, collecting donations for the Soles4Souls organization, a Paper Bridges letter writing campaign for orphans, and a Gameday Hair Havoc awareness game to raise money for the HeadStrong Foundation.

about the coach

Head coach Tracy Coyne enters her third season at Saint Francis and her 33rd campaign in her legendary career.
She holds a 304-212 career record to be one of 27 coaches in the NCAA with at least 250 wins, and became one of 20 coaches to reach 300 wins with the 10-6 win at Akron on February 27.
She has led 12 teams to the NCAA Tournament between the NCAA DI and DIII levels with six conference championships and several NCAA Final Four appearances.

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