Saturday, April 8 | at Merrimack | North Andover, Mass. | Duane Stadium | 12 p.m. | LIVE STATS | LIVE VIDEO

CAREER HIGHS

OPENING DRAW 
Saturday's match between Saint Francis and Merrimack marks the fourth meeting in the all-time series dating back to the 2021 season. The Warriors have won two of the three meetings in the series, while it will be the second time the two teams will square off in Massachusetts. 

THE WORD ON MERRIMACK
The Warriors come into the contest 2-10 overall and 1-2 in league play after falling 13-4 to Stonehill on March 29. Olivia Valdes leads the team with 22 goals and seven assists for 29 points. Sophia Scearbo is second on the squad with 24 tallies and two assists for 26 points, while Georgia Parker is third with 13 markers and six assists for 19 points. Scearbo fuels the team in draw controls (50), while Kelly Corrigan is among the team leaders in ground balls (23), draw controls (25) and caused turnovers (20). Hayley Kowalczyk leads the team in between the pipes with 109 saves, a 14.28 goals against average and a .426 save percentage.

LAST TIME WE MET
Merrimack defeated Saint Francis 12-8 on April 9, 2022. Autumn McHenry paced the Red Flash with four goals and an assist along with four draw controls and a ground ball. Taylor Darrell powered the Warriors with four goals, while Meghan Dzialo registered a hat trick. Elyssa Enrique made 13 saves for the Loretto program and Hayley Kowalczyk made six saves for Merrimack

LAST TIME OUT
Despite Saint Francis jumping out to a 10-2 lead in the first quarter, the game turned into a nail biter and needed sophomore Chyler Espino to cause a turnover in front of the cage in the defensive end to preserve a 19-18 win for the Red Flash against Stonehill on Saturday. The Skyhawks scored two unanswered goals in the final minute to make it a one-goal game and then won the ensuing draw control with 33 seconds left. Stonehill was driving toward the cage when Espino caused the miscue and scooped up the ground ball and was able to get the ball up the field as time expired. Autumn McHenry registered four goals and two assists, tied a career-high with 10 draw controls, three caused turnovers and two ground balls. The graduate student also registered her 100th career goal in the first quarter and her 200th career draw control in the third quarter. Danielle Hernandez had a career day with a career-high four goals and five assists for nine points. Both the assists and points marks are one off program records for the Red Flash. Julia Givens added a career-high five goals and one assist for six points.

NEXT TIME OUT
Saint Francis returns home to host first-year program FDU on April 12.

IN THE NEC AND THE NATION
Graduate student Elyssa Enrique leads the NEC in save percentage (.553) and saves per game (12.50) and ranks third in goals against average (10.80). Through play on March 30, the graduate student also led NCAA Division I in save percentage while ranking second in saves per game, fourth in saves (113) and 19th in the nation in goals against average

Graduate student Autumn McHenry is third in the NEC in goals per game (2.50), eighth in assists per game (1.10), third in points per game (3.60), fifth in shots per game (5.30), second in draw controls per game (5.10) and eighth in caused turnovers per game (1.40). Junior Danielle Hernandez is 10th in goals per game (2.00), third in assists per game (1.50) and fourth in points per game (3.50). Senior Kelly Dickson ranks 10th in the league in assists per game (0.90). Sophomore Chyler Espino sits fifth in ground balls per game (2.55). Freshman Bella Fisher is seventh in goals per game (2.10) and third in shots per game (6.30).

As a team, the Red Flash leads the NEC in ground balls per game (18.00), saves per game (13.30) and save percentage (.543). In the nation, the team leads the nation in save percentage and ranks 37th in scoring defense (goals against average).

NEC HONORS
Saint Francis has earned a major award for five of the six weeks it has been playing this season and has won a program-record eight major weekly awards this season.

For the second time this season, junior Danielle Hernandez was named the NEC Player of the Week and freshman Julia Givens has been tabbed as the NEC Rookie of the Week for the week of March 27-April 2. The duo first won the same honors for the week of February 27-April 5. In addition, Hernandez, Givens and graduate student Autumn McHenry were named NEC Prime Performers. Hernandez registered eight goals and seven assists for 15 points in a 2-0 week for the Red Flash. Givens registered a career-high five goals and six points against Stonehill, including scoring the eventual game-winner with 1:13 left in the fourth quarter against Stonehill, while McHenry registered seven goals and three assists for 10 points along with 15 draw controls, five ground balls and four caused turnovers in the week. 

After her second career five-goal performance, Saint Francis freshman Bella Fisher was named the NEC Co-Rookie of the Week for the week of March 20-26.

McHenry was named an NEC Prime Performer for the week of March 13-20 after posting seven goals and one assist for eight points along with 15 draw controls, two caused turnovers and two ground balls in the week.

McHenry was honored for the second time this season with a major award and her first career NEC Defensive Player of the Week honor for the week of March 6-12. Fisher was named the NEC Rookie of the Week, while senior Kelly Dickson joined the duo as Prime Performers. McHenry registered three assists, six draw controls, five ground balls and two caused turnovers in a 12-9 win against Kent State. Fisher registered five goals in the win against Kent State, including four of the first seven Red Flash goals. Dickson tallied a career-high three goals and an assist for four points, along with three ground balls and two caused turnovers.

The Red Flash swept the NEC weekly awards for the first time in program history for the week of February 27-March 5. Hernandez was named the NEC Player of the Week, graduate student Elyssa Enrique was tabbed as the NEC Defensive Player of the Week and Givens was selected as the NEC Rookie of the Week for the week of February 27-March 5. Hernandez and Enrique were also named NEC Prime Performers along with McHenry. Hernandez registered four goals and an assist in a 2-0 week for the Red Flash and was pivotal in both wins, while Enrique had 24 saves, a 6.42 goals against average and a .667 save percentage in the two games in 111:12 minutes of work. Givens posted four goals and an assist and was the catalyst to a pair of wins for the Red Flash in the week and McHenry had a pair of goals in both games.

McHenry was named the NEC Player of the Week for the week of February 20-26 after registering six goals and two assists for eight points, four draw controls, three ground balls and two caused turnovers. McHenry and Dickson were also named NEC Prime Performers. Dickson registered two goals and three assists for five points and added four ground balls, four caused turnovers and three draw controls. 

MILESTONE ALERT
Graduate student Autumn McHenry has moved into third place in program history in draw controls (206). McHenry moved into second place by herself in career assists with 69 helpers thanks to three helpers against Kent State on March 10 and needs seven assists to tie the program record. The redshirt senior is third in points (172) and can move into second place with 24 points.She also currently sits in sixth place with 103 tallies and became the sixth player in team history with 100 goals with her first score against Stonehill on April 1.  She can join the Top-5 in the category with 10 goals. McHenry has also cracked the Top-10 in caused turnovers and ground balls. The graduate student is fourth in caused turnovers with 52 and can move into third place with two caused turnovers, while she sits eighth in ground balls (93) and can move up a spot with one ground ball and into sixth place with three ground balls.

Graduate student Elyssa Enrique ranks third in program history in saves with 496. The graduate student became the third player to reach 400 saves with her third save in the first quarter against Delaware State on March 5. Samantha Morgan is in second place on the all-time list with 578 saves. The graduate student also tied the single-game program record with 24 saves against Stetson on March 14 and had the fifth-most saves in a game with 19 stops against Sacred Heart on March 25.

Senior Kelly Dickson needs three caused turnovers to move into 10th place on the program's all-time career caused miscue list. 

Freshman Bella Fisher has scored 21 goals this season to sit sixth on the program's freshmen list for goals in her first season. She can move into fifth place with three goals (24) and fourth place with eight goals. She is also eighth in points with 24 points and can move into seventh place with two points (26) and sixth place with five points (29). Fellow freshman Julia Givens now sits 10th in goals for a freshmen with 18 and can move into ninth place with one tally (19), eighth place with two tallies (20) and then be on the Bella Fisher path.

HATTIES
Freshman Bella Fisher notched a career-high five goals against Kent State on March 10 after registering four goals against Delaware State on March 5. She then notched her third hat trick and second five-goal game against Sacred Heart on March 25. Fisher finished the game one off the program record for goals in a game for freshmen with her five tallies on Friday. Chelsea Kent holds the freshman record with six scores against Niagara (March 12, 2009) and against Howard (March 18, 2009), which also sits tied for ninth on the single-game charts. Bella Fisher is the first freshman with a handful of goals since Emileigh Scott registered five markers against Robert Morris on April 13, 2018. Bella Fisher is the third player to score five times in a game under head coach Tracy Coyne, joining Scott (five times) and Amanda Heidt (four times). 

Graduate student Autumn McHenry also had a four-goal game against Longwood in the season opener on February 22 and then a career-best five tallies against Stetson on March 14 and scored four times against Stonehill on April 1. The graduate student has four hat tricks this season. Freshman Julia Givens and junior Danielle Hernandez each have three hat tricks this season. Givens registered a career-high five markers against Stonehill and Hernandez had a career-best four scores against Howard on March 29 and against Stonehill, while senior Kelly Dickson and freshman Brooke Lacey also have a hat tricks this season. McHenry leads the team with 10 hat tricks, while Hernandez, Lizzie Fisher and Givens each have a golden sumbero of hat tricks. Bella Fisher has a pair of hatties, while Dickson notched her first career three-goal game against Kent State.

COLLEGIATE DEBUT
Freshmen Bella Fisher, Bella Burke and Julia Givens each made their collegiate debut in the starting lineup against Longwood on February 22. Brooke Lacey and Mak Patten both made their first collegiate appearance. Fisher (two goals), Givens (three goals) and Patten (one assist) each had their first collegiate point in the match against the Lancers. CeCe Newman made her collegiate debut against Lehigh on February 25 and made six saves.

AYE, AYE, CAPTAIN
Graduate student Autumn McHenry and senior Kelly Dickinson have been named captains for the 2023 season. McHenry was also a captain in 2022.

Senior Bella Barnard, senior Lizzie Fisher, sophomore Chyler Espino and junior Holly Jones have been named to the lacrosse leadership council.

RETURNING ALL-NEC PERFORMERS
Redshirt senior Autumn McHenry returns after nabbing her first All-NEC first-team honor in 2022. She was also selected to the 2021 All-NEC second team and the 2018 All-Rookie team. Junior Danielle Hernandez was named to the All-NEC Rookie team in 2021.

WELCOME TO THE LO'
Saint Francis women's lacrosse head coach Tracy Coyne has added six freshmen to the 2023 roster. CeCe Newman, Mak Patten, Bella Fisher, Brooke Lacey, Bella Burke and Julia Givens all joined the team this season. In addition, assistant coach Morgan Gott comes to Loretto after serving as an assistant coach at Eastern Michigan.

FROM THE GREAT WHITE NORTH
Saint Francis has three players that hail from Canada in sophomores Olivia Baldini (Hamilton, Ontario) and Taylor Coughlin (Hespeler, Ontario) and freshman Mak Patten (Welland, 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.

ABOUT THE COACH
Head coach Tracy Coyne enters her fourth season at Saint Francis and her 34th campaign in her legendary career. She holds a 308-216 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, 2022. 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.