Saturday, March 9 | LIU | Loretto, Pa. | DeGol Field | 1 p.m. | LIVE STATS | LIVE VIDEO
OPENING DRAW 
Saturday's match between Saint Francis and LIU marks the 20th meeting in the all-time series dating back to the 2003 season. Each team has won five times in Loretto in the series. It marks the third-straight season the two teams square off in the NEC opener for both teams and the fourth time overall. The Red Flash has opened up league play with a win three times thanks to victories in 2010, 2014 and 2017. In 2014. Saint Francis defeated LIU 10-9 in overtime in the NEC opener in Loretto.

THE WORD ON LIU
The Sharks come into the contest 0-6 after falling to UMass on March 2. Julia Trainor leads the team in points after posting eight goals and five assists for 13 points. Erin Harkins and Olivia Fantigrossi both have 10 goals this season, while Fantigrosso also has two assists to rank second on the team with 12 points. Trainor paces the team with seven caused turnovers and ranks second in draw controls (25). Amanda Weber powers the team with 29 draw controls. Lily Bilello has 27 saves, a 13.97 goals against average and a .318 save percentage.

LAST TIME WE MET 
LIU defeated Saint Francis 16-7 on March 18, 2023. Danielle Hernandez paced the Red Flash with two goals and an assist, while Autumn McHenry found the twine twice. Leah Nonnemann (three goals, two assists) and Hannah Kenneally (two goals, three assists) each had five points, while Julia Trainor (three goals, one assist), Fran Vasile-Cozzo (two goals, two assists) each had four points. Elyssa Enrique had 15 saves for Saint Francis and Lily Bilello had 11 stops for the Sharks.

LAST TIME OUT
Saint Francis rallied from five goals down to tie the game midway through the fourth quarter, but St. Bonaventure scored two goals to earn an 11-9 win against Saint Francis on Tuesday.  With her assist in the third quarter, Danielle Hernandez became the 12th player in program history to tally 100 points in her career. The senior also had a goal on the day. Lizzie Fisher recorded a hat trick, while Bella Fisher tallied two goals and two assists. Julia Givens posted two goals, and Brooke Lacey added a tally and a helper.  Taylor Coughlin recorded 12 saves.

NEXT TIME OUT 
Saint Francis continues its season-long three-game homestand against Kent State on Wednesday before Merrimack wraps up the three-game swing on March 16.

NEC HONORS
Sophomore Bella Fisher was named the NEC Co-Player of the Week, fellow sophomore Bella Burke earned NEC Defensive Player of the Week and freshman Jacks Lesmeister nabbed her first NEC Rookie of the Week selection for the week of February 26-March 3. Burke, Bella Fisher and graduate student Lizzie Fisher were named Prime Performers. Bella Fisher registered five goals, one assist, seven draw controls, two ground balls, and a caused turnover in a 15-9 win against Robert Morris on Wednesday.  Burke anchored the defense in the win against Robert Morris by helping to keep the Colonials under 10 goals in the game and adding four ground balls, and two caused turnovers. Lesmeister posted four caused turnovers and two ground balls against the Colonials. 
 
Bella Fisher and Julia Givens were named NEC Prime Performers for the week of February 19-25. Fisher registered three goals and a career-high three assists for six points, and Givens tallied two goals, three ground balls and three caused turnovers against Rider on February 22. Danielle Hernandez and Givens were named NEC Prime Performers for the week of February 12-18. Hernandez had two goals and two assists, while Givens posted a hat trick against Oregon in the first-ever game against a Power 5 opponent on February 16.

HATTIES 
Sophomore Bella Fisher leads the team with nine hat tricks after registering two in the first three games including a five-goal performance against Robert Morris on February 28. Graduate student Lizzie Fisher also has three hat tricks in 2024 with a career-high five tallies against Robert Morris to notch nine hat tricks in her career. Senior captain Danielle Hernandez is right behind the dup with seven three-goal performances. Sophomore Nancy Alden notched her first career hat trick against Rider, and fellow sophomore Julia Givens had a three-goal performance against Oregon in the season opener on February 16. Givens has five career hatties, while sophomore Brooke Lacey also has a three-goal performance on her resume.

MILESTONE ALERT 
Senior Danielle Hernandez has 101 career points becoming the 12 player in team history to reach 100 points in her career and the fourth under head coach Tracy Coyne. Hernandez already sits in sixth place on the program's all-time career assist list with 39 assists and can move into fifth place with 14 assists. In addition, she can move into the Top-10 for career points with five points with former teammate Amanda Heidt (106, 2018-22) currently holding the 10th spot. Junior Chyler Espino, who became the fifth different player in program history with 10 draw controls in a game against St. Bonaventure last season, is 10th for career draw controls with 79 draws. She can move into eighth place with four draws (83) and seventh place with nine draws (88). Espino can also crack the Top-10 in ground balls and caused turnovers this season. Currently sitting at 35 caused turnovers, she can move into 10th place with 10 caused miscues (45), while her 69 ground balls are 15 ground balls (84) from No. 10 on the career list for that category.

INSIDE LACROSSE FEATURE 
Graduate student Erika Ellison was featured in an article for Inside Lacrosse chronicling her time as a student-athlete and being a member of the ROTC. Click HERE to read the story.

AYE, AYE, CAPTAIN 
Graduate student Lizzie Fisher, senior Danielle Hernandez and junior Chyler Espino have been named captains for the 2024 campaign. The trio along with junior Collen Roche and sophomore Bella Fisher will serve as members of the Women's Lacrosse Leadership Council

RETURNING ALL-NEC PERFORMERS 
Sophomore Bella Fisher was named the 2023 NEC Rookie of the Year to become the first Red Flash player to earn the recognition. She also earned All-NEC second-team recognition. Junior Chyler Espino was named to the All-NEC first team, while senior Danielle Hernandez was selected to the second team. Fisher and sophomore Bella Burke were named to the NEC All-Rookie team. 

WELCOME TO THE LO' 
Saint Francis women's lacrosse head coach Tracy Coyne has added four freshmen and ne junior to the 2024 roster. Junior Victoria DiRenno comes to Loretto after playing two seasons at Niagara. Freshmen Kylie Fischer, Jacks Lesmeister, Elizabeth Mahmud and Molly Riva all joined the squad this season.

FROM THE GREAT WHITE NORTH 
Saint Francis has three players that hail from Canada. Juniors Olivia Baldini (Hamilton, Ontario) and Taylor Coughlin (Hespeler, Ontario) and sophomore 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. 

CHYLER'S WORLD TOUR 
Junior Chyler Espino played in two international tournaments since the 2023 season ended with Team Philippines. The junior played in the World Lacrosse Festival over the summer in California and then played in the Super Sixes Tournament in December in Hong Kong. Espino was joined in the Super Sixes Tournament by former teammate Elyssa Enrique.

PLAYER TO WATCH 
Sophomore Bella Fisher was named a Second Year Player to Watch by US Lacrosse Magazine. She had a Red Flash freshman record for goals (42) and points (48). The 42 goals were the ninth most by any class in single-season program history. Fisher scored six goals twice last season (CCSU on April 15, 2023, and St. Bonaventure), which ranks 10th on the single-game chart in program history. The sophomore, who received the NEC Rookie of the Week honor four times to become just the fourth player in NEC history to turn that trick, scored at least six goals in a game six times in her freshman campaign. 

ABOUT THE COACH 
Head coach Tracy Coyne enters her fifth season at Saint Francis and her 35th campaign in her legendary career. She holds a 315-224 career record. She currently ranks seventh in wins by active Division I head coaches, while she is 11th in NCAA Division I history in wins, 13th at any level for active head coaches and 19th overall for any level. Coyne became the program's winningest head coach in program history in a 17-11 win against St. Bonaventure on April 19. In 2023, under her tutelage the Red Flash has set a program record for overall wins (10), conference wins (5), longest winning streak (6) and clinched the program's first-ever NEC Tournament appearance. She 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. Coyne was inducted into the Roanoke Saint Francis women's lacrosse head coach Tracy Coyne has added four freshmen and ne junior to the 2024 roster. Junior Victoria DiRenno comes to Loretto after playing two seasons at Niagara. Freshmen Kylie Fischer, Jacks Lesmeister, Elizabeth Mahmud and Molly Riva all joined the squad this season.College Hall of Fame in 2023.