lifted a massive weight off of Saint Francis on Friday with her first goal at DeGol Field. Her goal in the game's final five minutes fueled the Red Flash past Fairfield for the first time in program history and kept the Northeast Conference postseason hopes alive with the 2-1 win.
>> Marciano posted her third goal of the season, but her first two tallies were on the road.
scored the first goal of the afternoon and the 11th of the season.
TURNING POINTS OF THE MATCH
Anyone who remembers Will Farrell's classic movie, "Kicking And Screaming," knows that Farrell wanted to keep feeding the Italian-born players on the soccer field. On Friday in Loretto, it wasn't two players from Italy, but two players came from Argentina and were the catalyst for the win.
Trailing 1-0 going into the final 20 minutes, de Castro did what she does best and hit the back of the cage on a Friday to tie the match at one at the 42:21 mark—with four minutes and two seconds left, her countrywoman called the game when she rattled the cage for the decisive score.Â
FLASH QUOTES
"I'm so proud of this team for giving everything. It's not just my goal, but I did it, not just for me, for the team. It was a difficult match, and I'm happy that we were able to win it."
- Sofia Marciano on the game-winning goal
"We were locked down this whole game. Yeah, we did give up that one goal in the corner, but we had so many corners against us, and we really worked together, especially with overlapping on the sides. Our backs really did an amazing job of not allowing more than one goal"
– Mia DiGenova on the defense
"We knew what was at stake going into the match. And we really wanted to do this. We can see this program going so far, especially this year. It really did add some pressure, but it just fueled us for this game. And we knew this was a strong team, but we knew we had to be the stronger team, and won it today."
– DiGenova on the stakes of the game
"The seniors have been such leaders for us, and they are inspirational. They really lead us on and off the field, during practices, outside of practice. I couldn't ask for a better senior coming in my first and second seasons. They really did do a lot for us, and they really like paved the way for us as the underclassmen."
– DiGenova on the seniors that will be honored on Sunday
"Lola helped me a lot with everything, with the English, and feeling comfortable with everyone in and outside the field. I really appreciate having a person like Lola to help me in my first season."
– Marciano on the impact senior Dolores Zavaleta has had in her first seasonÂ
FLASH MOMENTS
DiGenova made one save about 90 seconds before de Castro's game equalizer, and the Stags had a shot blocked in the final minute.
A loss would have eliminated the Red Flash from playoff contention, but Marciano's heroics keep the Saint Francis hopes alive for a third consecutive NEC Tournament berth. The conference season ends on Friday, November 1. The Red Flash has to defeat Merrimack in the regular season finale to have a chance. There are two paths for the Loretto team to make it with a win. A Fairfield loss to Stonehill or an LIU loss to Sacred Heart are the most straightforward paths. A Fairfield loss would put Saint Francis in a tie with Fairfield and Stonehill, and the Red Flash would win that tiebreaker. A Fairfield loss is the key for Saint Francis because even with an LIU win, the Red Flash would advance in a four-way tiebreaker with LIU, Fairfield, and Stonehill because LIU would be the team that takes the three-seed in that four-team tiebreaker and then Saint Francis would again win the three-way tiebreaker with Fairfield and Stonehill. LIU and Saint Francis are currently tied at 4-3, so an LIU loss and an SFU win would move the Red Flash ahead of the Sharks in the standings.
FLASH NUGGETS
Marciano notched her first game-winner and first goal in league play after hitting the cage against Queens and Lock Haven for her first two scores.
De Castro posted her 11th goal of the season, the seventh most by a Red Flash player in program history. She is the fifth player in program history to reach 11 goals in single-season history. It was also the eighth time she scored on a Friday this season and the 11th time in her career. She now has 14 goals and three assists for 31 points in her career. The sophomore can move into the program's Top-10 for career goals with five more markers.
It was the eighth time this season that DiGenova has allowed a goal or less in a match and the first time since October 4 against Sacred Heart. She had seven straight games with a goal or less that ended with the match against Sacred Heart.
It was the 10th meeting in the all-time series between Saint Francis and Fairfield, but that was the first win against the Stags in team history.
UP NEXT
Saint Francis continues its three-game homestand to end the regular season on Sunday against Bellarmine in non-conference play. Prior to the match, the Red Flash will honor seniors
Brooke Benson,
Amber Bryan,
Haley Connor,
Alli Kirsch,
Riley Kromer,
Ami Mattingly, and
Dolores Zavaleta. The senior ceremony begins at 11:45 a.m. The game starts at noon.
