Sunday, September 24 | at Drexel | Philadelphia, Pa. | Buckley Field | 12 p.m.  | LIVE STATS | LIVE VIDEO ($)
 
OPENING STICK
Sunday's match between Saint Francis and Drexel marks the sixth meeting in the all-time series dating back to the 2006 season. It will also be the fourth-straight year and the fifth time the two teams will meet in the City of Brotherly Love. 
 
THE WORD ON DREXEL
Drexel, who travels to Towson on Friday, comes into the weekend 5-3 on the year after defeating No. 20 Albany 4-3 in a shootout on September 17. Natali Foster leads the team with seven goals and six assists for 20 points. Val Van Hellemont is second with four goals and two assists for 10 points and Liz Chipman is third on the squad with three tallies and two assists for eight points. Megan Hadfield has 27 saves, a 1.08 goals against average and a .750 save percentage.

LAST TIME WE MET 
Drexel defeated Saint Francis 3-2 after breaking a 2-all standstill with a tally at 49:02 on September 16, 2022. Eva Valentini scored both goals for the Red Flash, unassisted at 17:08 and then off feeders from Julia Breneman and Olivia Muffitt at 34:36. Amber Bryan made three saves in 30 minutes of work.
   
NEXT TIME OUT
Saint Francis returns to Loretto to start NEC play against Wagner for the second time in the last three years on September 29. The team will then hit the road for a another three-game road trip at Georgetown (October 1), Rider (October 6) and Fairfield (October 8). 

LAST TIME OUT
Saint Francis lost a pair of 2-1 contests to Lehigh on September 15 and Villanova two days later. Chloe Butz registered her first goal of the season off a Marie Sattler assist at 38:07 against the Mountain Hawks and Grace Reed registered her first career score off a feed from Eva Valentini. Goalkeeper Mia DiGenova made 11 saves in the two games.

NEC HONORS
Freshman Mia DiGenova was named the NEC Defensive Player and Rookie of the Week for the week of September 11-17. DiGenova registered 11 saves in the week with a 1.00 goals aga­­­inst average in 60 minutes of work in the two games after playing the first half against Lehigh on Friday and the second half against Villanova on Sunday. After allowing a goal in the eighth minute against Lehigh, she did not allow a ball to hit the back of the cage in the final 52 minutes and 43 seconds that she played during the week. It is the second time this season and third time in team history the Red Flash won two of the three conference awards in the same week, while DiGenova is the first player in team history to win multiple awards in the same week. 

Marie Sattler was named the NEC Co-Rookie of the Week for the week of September 4-10. It is her first conference weekly honor and the second time this season the Red Flash has earned an NEC Co-Rookie of the Week recognition. Dolores Zavaleta was named an NEC Prime Performer.Sattler broke a scoreless result when she knocked in a rebounded save off the stick of Madison Waldspurger at 39:32 for a 1-0 lead against Lock Haven on Wednesday in a 2-1 victory. After the Bald Eagles tied the score at 50:10, the Loretto program was awarded a penalty corner. Sattler inserted the ball to Waldspurger, who found Zavaleta in front of the cage at 53:41 for the game-winner. Lock Haven did not have a shot in the final six minutes and 29 seconds.

Amber Bryan was named the NEC Defensive Player of the Week and Consu de Castro was selected as the NEC Rookie of the Week for the first week of the season. Bryan did not allow a goal in 105 minutes in the week with five saves, while de Castro scored two goals against Queens in a 6-0 victory on August 25, including the game-winner. Waldspurger registered the lone goal in a 1-0 win against Longwood on August 27. It is the second time in program history a player has been named NEC Defensive Player of the Week for the Red Flash after Chloe South was named the top defender on September 20, 2021, which was also the only time the Red Flash won multiple awards in the same week. de Castro marks the 11th time in program history it has registered a NEC Rookie of the Week honor. 
 
WHERE WE ARE
Saint Francis is 4-4 on the year for the third time in program history (2013, 2015). A win and the Red Flash would be 5-4 for the fifth time in program history (2012, 2013, 2017, 2018) and have a winning record after nine games for the seventh time in program history and the last 12 years. The 5-4 start would only be bested by the 2016 6-3 start and the 8-1 start by the 2014 team, which started the year 8-0.

NFHCA WATCH LIST
Junior Eva Valentini was named to the National Field Hockey Coaches Association Watch List on August 31. This list is intended to showcase those field hockey student-athletes with the strongest potential for consideration to the current year's NFHCA All-American teams. To be nominated for the 2023 NFHCA Watchlist, student-athletes must have been previously recognized for their outstanding field hockey abilities within the past two years (NFHCA All-Region, NFHCA All-American, All-Conference, Nexus Championship selection, AAU Junior Olympic Games selection, NCAA All-Tournament Team, and/or U.S. National or International Team roster) and the student-athlete's head coach must be an active NFHCA member.  This list does not constitute a nomination or selection to the NFHCA All-Region or All-American teams. Student-athletes not listed on the NFHCA Watchlist may still be nominated for NFHCA All-Region and All-American recognition.

LEADERSHIP GROUP
Senior Julia Breneman, redshirt senior Amber Bryan, junior Haley Connor, redshirt senior Riley Kromer, senior Ella Maillie, junior Eva Valentini and junior Dolores Zavaleta have been named to the Saint Francis Field Hockey Leadership Group. Breneman, Maillie and Valentini have also been named game day captains.

MILESTONE ALERT
Junior Eva Valentini has moved into a tie for fifth place in program history for career goals after scoring against Bellarmine on August 31. In addition, she is sixth in career points with 58 and can move into a fifth-place tie with one point. She will be supplanted in fifth place for awhile, needing 13 tallies and 31 points to move up in each category. The junior registered the fifth-most points in a single season in 2022 with 30 points and the fourth-most goals with 12 markers.

Freshman Consu de Castro became the first freshman in program history to open the season with with two goals in a game. de Castro becomes the first Saint Francis player to score twice in a season opener since Taylor Nesmith found the back of the cage twice against Kent State in the 2019 season opener. Along with being the first freshman to have a multi-goal performance, it marks the sixth time a player has registered more than one tally in the opener and the fourth different player.
 
RETURNING ALL-NEC
Saint Francis returns 2022 All-NEC first-team performer Eva Valentini, second-team honoree Dolores Zavaleta and 2021 All-NEC second-team performer Claudia Ortiz in 2021. Valentini, who was an second-team recipient in 2022, paced the Red Flash with 12 goals and six assists for 30 points. Zavaleta paced the team with six assists along with two goals for 10 points. She registered an assist on all three goals against LIU in 2022 to become the third player in program history to turn the trick. Ortiz ranked second with six tallies and four assists for 16 points in 2021.

STICKING AROUND FOR ANOTHER YEAR
Seniors Amber Bryan, Riley Kromer, and Claudia Ortiz have all come back for their fifth season. Bryan and Kromer are in their fifth season in Loretto, while South is in her fourth after transferring from La Salle after one season and Ortiz is in her third year after two seasons at Kent State.

NEW TO THE 'LO
Freshmen Consu de Casto, T Ciaccia, Mia DiGenova, Grace Reed, Dolores Riegé and Marie Sattler and joined the team for the 2023 season. All five players made their collegiate debut against Queens on August 27 with de Castro and Sattler earning their first collegiate starting nod. de Castro notched a pair of goals, Sattler registered a goal and an assist and Riege had an assist against the Royals. DiGenova had a save in 15 minutes. Reed registered her first career goal against Villanova on September 17.
 
TOO MANY ANTHEMS TO PLAY
Along with 17 players from the United States, head coach Maria Bettiana Ceretta has four players from Argentina (Consu de Castro, Dolores Riegé, Dolores Zavaleta, Eva Valentini), two players from Canada (Francesca Primomo, Hannah Rohrer), one from Germany (Marie Sattler) and one from Spain (Claudia Ortiz) for the 2023 season.
 
ABOUT THE COACH
Head coach Maria Bettiana Ceretta is in her seventh season as the field hockey head coach at Saint Francis. She led the Red Flash back to the postseason for the sixth time in program history and the third time in NEC play last season. Ceretta is the second winningest head coach in program history. In 2022, she became an American citizen.