Saint Francis WLAX Hosts Merrimack On Saturday

Merrimack College (2-8, 2-1 NEC) at Saint Francis University (4-7, 1-2 NEC)
Date \| Time	Saturday, April 9, 2022 \| 1 p.m.
Location	Loretto, Pa. \| DeGol Field
Television	Trent Dunn (play-by-play) \| NEC Front Row
Live Stats	SideArm
Stats	Saint Francis \| SFU Career Highs \| Merrimack \| Northeast Conference
Social Media	@RedFlashLax \| @RedFlashLax \| Facebook

GAME NOTES VS. MERRIMACK

opening draw

Saturday's game between Saint Francis University and Merrimack College marks the third meeting in the all-time series dating back to the 2021 season.
Each team won on its home field last year to enter the matchup on Saturday tied at one game apiece.

about the warriors

Merrimack comes into the contest 2-8 overall and 2-1 in league play after falling 17-15 to Boston University on Wednesday.
Catherine Mahanna leads the team with 23 goals, 10 assists and 33 points along with 51 draw controls.
Megan Dzialo has a team-best 26 goals and is second to Mahanna with 27 points.
Taylor Darrell ranks third on the team with 16 goals and three assists for 19 points.
Kelly Corrigan paces the defense with 17 caused turnovers and 24 ground balls.
Hayley Kowalczyk leads the team with 66 saves, a 15.72 goals against average and .375 save percentage.

last time we met

Amanda Heidt scored a career-high six goals to lead Saint Francis past Merrimack 21-9 on March 27, 2021.
Emileigh Scott added five goals and an assist, while Livia Baker had four markers and one helper, and Autumn McHenry posted two goals and four assists.
Taylor Darrell fueled the Warriors with four tallies, and Meghan Dzialo found the twine twice.
Elyssa Enrique made nine saves for the Red Flash, and Sam Preston turned away six shots for Merrimack.

last time out

For the first time in her career, Autumn McHenry posted back-to-back four-goal performances after registering four tallies and two assists in a 16-7 loss to Wagner on Saturday.
Elyssa Enrique turned away her 300th career shot in the second quarter and finished with 11 saves.
Chyler Espino scooped up five ground balls and a caused turnover.

next time out

Saint Francis heads to Mount St. Mary's on Apr. 13 and Bryant on Apr. 15.
The Red Flash will return to DeGol Field on Apr. 23 against Central Connecticut State.

20th anniversary celebration

This season marks the 20th Anniversary of the first season of women's lacrosse at Saint Francis.
Saint Francis is inviting all women's lacrosse alumnae back to celebrate 20 years of women's lacrosse on Saturday, April 23 against Central Connecticut State.
A brunch for all alumnae will take place from 11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. in DeGol Field House and all women's lacrosse alumnae will be honored at halftime of the game.
Registration for Women's Lacrosse Celebraton | CLICK HERE

prime performers

Autumn McHenry was named the NEC Player of the Week for the week of Mar. 28-Apr. 3. McHenry and Amanda 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.
Christina 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 notched her second career four-goal performance of her career and her first since she registered four scores against Kent State on March 10, 2020 against Akron on February 27. She then tied her career high and the program record for assists in a game with six against Delaware State on Mar. 23
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

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.

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 (131) and needs 69 to cross the 200 draw control mark. The senior is fifth in career assists with 52 and can move up a spot with one helper.
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 114 points, she can move into eighth place with two points.
Amanda Heidt has 81 goals and cracked the Top-10 with five goals against Howard. She can move into eighth place with one score. Heidt is also six points away from 100 for her career.
Elyssa Enrique reached 300 saves in her career against Wagner. She now has 306 saves and can move into fourth place in team history with 22 stops.

aye, aye, captain

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 eighth place with her 50 draw controls and can very easily move into fifth place with four draw controls and fourth place with a career-high nine draws against Merrimack on Saturday.
She is also just four assists away from the Top-10 in assists in a season for 2022 after joining that list last season after dishing out 20 assists in 2021.
McHenry and graduate student Amanda Heidt also have sights on the points (47) and goals (37) season Top-10. The duo both has 25 markers this season, while McHenry recorded 38 points and Heidt has posted 33 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 303-209 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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