WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
>> Claudia Ortiz (Madrid, Spain) scored the decisive goal in the 43rd minute to power Saint Francis past Rider 2-1 in Northeast Conference (NEC) field hockey action on Friday.
>> Eva Valentini (Junin, Argentina) added her fifth goal of the season in the winning effort to start the comeback in the two-goal third quarter.
>> After allowing a goal 91 seconds into the match, goalkeeper Amber Bryan (Thorndale, Pa.) made three saves the rest of the way to help the Red Flash to the come-from-behind win.
 >> Saint Francis improves to 2-0 in NEC play for the third time in program history, joining the 2012 and 2017 squads.

TURNING POINTS
Trailing 1-0, Valentini dodged around a defender from the top of the circle and hit the back of the cage to knot the match at 1 at the 35:40 mark.
 
Six minutes and 30 seconds later, Valentini started the offense on the play that gave the Red Flash the lead for good. The junior nailed a shot that bounced off the goalkeeper's pads for the save, but Consu de Castro (Chascomús, Argentina) was in front of the cage along with Ortiz to knock it in for the game-winner at 42:10.
 
Bryan made a save at 44:22 for the Broncs only shot on goal in the final 17 minutes and 50 seconds. Rider had four penalty corners, a shot blocked by the Red Flash defense and two attempts go wide the rest of the way. The Broncs also pulled the goalkeeper with 3:28 left for extra offense, but the Red Flash came away with its second-straight win against the Lawrenceville program.

FLASH NUGGETS
Ortiz notched her first goal of the season and 10th of her Red Flash career. The redshirt senior has scored against Rider in back-to-back seasons after hitting the cage in a 3-2 win against the Broncs last season in the NEC opener in Loretto. She has 10 tallies and six assists for 26 points for Saint Francis and 16 goals and seven assists for 39 points in her career that started at Kent State for two seasons.
 
Valentini registered her team-leading fifth goal of the season to take the team lead with five goals and two assists for 12 points. She sits in fifth place in program history for both goals (49) and points (64).
 
de Castro notched her first career assist and now has three goals and an assist for seven points in her first season in Loretto.
 
Saint Francis defeated Rider for the first time on the road since a 3-2 overtime win in 2014, while the team has won back-to-back regular season games against the Broncs for the first time since 2014-15.
 
The Loretto program improved to 7-5 on the year for its third-best 12-game start in program history behind the 10-2 start in 2014 and 8-4 start in 2012. The 7-5 record is the fifth time the team has reached the mark in program history (2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2023).

UP NEXT
Saint Francis wraps up its three-game road trip at Fairfield on Sunday. Game time is 1 p.m. The game will be a first-place battle of the two unbeaten teams left in the NEC after the Stags defeated Sacred Heart 6-1 on Friday.  A win and the Red Flash would win the first three NEC games in a season for the second time in team history (2012).