Friday, September 29 | Wagner | Loretto, Pa. | DeGol Field | 4:30 p.m.  | LIVE STATS | LIVE VIDEO
Sunday, October 1 | vs. Georgetown | Towson, Md. | Towson Field Hockey Complex | 12 p.m. | LIVE STATS | LIVE VIDEO
 
OPENING STICK VS. WAGNER
Friday's NEC opener marks the third meeting in the all-time series dating back to the 2021 season. It will be the second time in three years the two teams will play the inaugural league game of a campaign in Loretto after also starting the 2021 at DeGol Field.
 
THE WORD ON WAGNER
Wagner comes into the match 0-7 after falling 2-1 to Lehigh at home on Sunday. The Red Flash also fell to the Mountain Hawks by the same score. Emma Lofstedt leads the team with a goal and an assist for three points, while Hailey Copestick, Rebecca Desiderio and Laura van Hamburg each have a goal this season to account for the Seahawks points on the year. Sam Black has started all five games in the cage with 34 saves, a 3.78 save percentage and a .667 save percentage in 270 minutes. 

LAST TIME WE MET WAGNER
Wagner scored the first four goals of the game to earn a 4-2 win against the Red Flash on October 7, 2022. Eva Valentini registered a goal and an assist, while Madison Waldspurger scored and Dolores Zavaleta had an assist on Valentini's score. Amber Bryan made two saves in the match for Saint Francis.

NEC OPENERS
Saint Francis is 3-11 in its Northeast Conference openers including 3-6 at DeGol Field. The Red Flash has opened the league slate at home in eight of the last 11 inaugural NEC games of the year. The squad defeated Rider 3-2 at home last year in the league opener. Saint Francis is looking to win the NEC opener in back-to-back years for the first time since 2011 and 2012. The team also won consecutive openers in 2017 and 2018 in head coach Maria Bettiana Ceretta's first two years as a head coach in the Atlantic-10.
   
OPENING STICK VS. GEORGETOWN
Sunday's match between Saint Francis and Georgetown marks the 12th meeting in the all-time series dating back to the 2004 season. Four of the last five matches have been decided in overtime with the Red Flash winning three of those contests. The game will not be in the nation's capital, but at a neutral site at Towson University.
 
THE WORD ON GEORGETOWN
Georgetown, who will host Quinnipiac in Big East action on Friday, comes into the weekend 1-8 after falling 4-0 to UConn on September 22. The Hoyas lone win was a 4-2 decision against Lock Haven on September 17. Vivienne Trumpbour leads the team with four goals and two assists for 10 points. Sophie Towne is second on the team with two goals and two assists for six points, while Lois Lekawael is third with two tallies for four points. Bailey Tietz has 42 saves, a 3.71 goals against average and a .618 save percentage in the cage.

LAST TIME WE MET GEORGETOWN
Georgetown defeated Saint Francis 1-0 in overtime after scoring a goal in the 65th minute on September 11, 2022. Madison Waldspurger, Julia Breneman and Eva Valentini each had two shots on goal in the game. Amber Bryan had four saves in the game for the Red Flash.

NEXT TIME OUT
Saint Francis, who is playing in Loretto for the first time since its game against Ball State was cancelled due to lightning on September 8, starts another three-game road trip starting with Georgetown on Sunday before traveling to Rider (October 6) and Fairfield (October 8) for its first NEC road tests of the season. The squad will return to Loretto to host LIU on October 13.

LAST TIME OUT
Saint Francis lost 2-1 to Drexel on Sunday. Eva Valentini scored the Red Flash's lone goal in the match in the 38th minute. Mia DiGenova made three stops in the first 30 minutes and Amber Bryan had a stop the rest of the way. The Red Flash has lost the last three games by a score of 2-1 for its first three-game losing streak of the season.

NEC HONORS
Junior Eva Valentini was named an NEC Prime Performer for the week of September 18-24. Valentini scored the Red Flash's lone goal against Drexel in the 38th minute on September 24 to move into fifth place for career points in program history.

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. 
 
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. The junior then jumped into fifth place for career points thanks to her goal at Drexel on September 24. She will be supplanted in fifth place for awhile, needing 12 tallies and 29 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.