WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
>> Madison Waldspurger (Hatfield, Pa.) scored the first two goals of the game to help propel Saint Francis past Wagner 3-0 in the Northeast Conference opener for both teams in field hockey action on Friday.
>> Waldspurger scored off two penalty corners in the 28th and 47th minutes to notch her second career multi-goal performance of her career.
>> Eva Valentini (Junin, Argentina) added her fourth goal of the season on a penalty shot in the 56th minute.
>> The Red Flash opens the season 1-0 in league play for the second-straight season and the fourth time in program history. Last season, the Loretto program defeated Rider 3-2 in the inaugural NEC game of 2022.

TURNING POINTS
After a foul in the circle, Dolores Riege (Santa Fe, Argentina) inserted a penalty corner and Waldsburger rocketed it in at the 27:32 mark to give Saint Francis a 1-0 edge. Waldspurger had the magic touch again off a Marie Sattler (Kaiserslautern, Germany) insertion at 46:07 for a two-goal advantage.
 
Valentini sealed the Red Flash's first-ever win against last year's NEC Champions on a penalty stroke at the 55:19 mark.

FLASH MOMENTS
Valentini came up big at the end of the third quarter on defense when she recorded a defensive save with 13 seconds left in the quarter.
 
The Red Flash defense was also able to squash a man-down two-minute situation earlier in the third quarter with the ball on the defensive end for most of the time and the defense did not allow a shot.

FLASH NUGGETS
Waldspurger, who registered a goal in last year's encounter with the Seahawks, ranks second on the team with three goals and two assists for eight points this season. It is the second time in the sophomore's career she has scored more than two goals in a game after posting a hat trick against Central Michigan on October 2, 2022.
 
Valentini cemented herself into fifth place in program history in the game against Drexel on September 24 and now starts her march toward fourth place in both career goals and points in program history. She paces the team with four goals and two assists for 10 points in 2023.
 
Sattler is tied with Waldspurger for second in points with eight thanks to a team-leading four assists and two tallies. Riege notched her second career helper and first since the season-opening win against Queens on August 25.
 
Amber Bryan (Thorndale, Pa.) made two saves for Saint Francis in the winning effort to earn her second shutout of the season.
 
Saint Francis begins the league slate 1-0 for the fourth time in program history, joining the 2011, 2012 and 2022 teams. It is the second time the team has started league play with a win in back-to-back years in the NEC. The squad also won back-to-back circuit starters in the Atlantic-10 in 2017 and 2018.

UP NEXT
The Red Flash returns to action and starts another three-game road trip with a neutral site game against Georgetown. The game will be played at Towson University and will start at 12 p.m.