2024 Schedule

LORETTO, Pa. – Saint Francis field hockey head coach Mackenzie Allessie has announced the 2024 schedule for her inaugural season as head coach in Loretto. The 17-game schedule features six games at DeGol Field, with a three-game homestand to end the season.

Allessie will make her collegiate coaching debut at Ball State on August 30. It will be the third time in the last six years that the Red Flash has opened a campaign against Ball State on the road. The Red Flash will open the season on the road for the 13th time, entering its 23rd season. It will be the fifth time the two teams will square off after having the tilt in Loretto last season canceled due to lightning.

We are super excited to start the season. We have a great mixture of home and away games as well as strong competition in and out of conference," said Allessie. "We are a young team with a whole new coaching staff, which is an incredible opportunity to remold and restructure the program."

The Red Flash will remain on the road at Miami (Ohio) on September 1 for the seventh meeting between the two teams. All seven matchups have occurred in the Buckeye state, including in six of the last seven seasons. 

Wrapping up its first of three three-game road trips at Towson on September 6 in the first meeting against the Tigers since 2017. Saint Francis has won the last three tilts in the series.

Allessie will make her DeGol Field coaching debut on September 8 against Georgetown. The two teams will square off for the 13th time in team history, with the Red Flash taking five of the last eight matches in the series. Four of the previous six games have gone to overtime, including the last three in Loretto.

"This year is about building onto the team culture, creating new standards, and elevating Saint Francis field hockey on and off the field," said Allessie. "We are super eager to start our season, but as we look ahead, we will take on the new changes and challenges one day at a time, which begins in preseason."

Saint Francis will open Northeast Conference play at Mercyhurst on September 15, which joins the league in 2024. It will be the third meeting between the Keystone State teams and the first since the Lakers won back-to-back contests in 2004 and 2005 in overtime. 

The Red Flash returns to non-conference play and continues its second three-game road stretch in North Carolina for two games. A trip to face Queens on September 20 starts in the Tar Heel State before heading to Davidson on September 22. It will be the second meeting against Queens and first on the road after winning 6-0 in last year's season opener at home, while Davidson returns to the schedule for the 11th time and the first since 2019 after Saint Francis won four of the last six contests. 

Like the stop at home against Georgetown, the team will be at home against Stonehill on September 27 in the NEC home opener before returning to the road for five or the next six games.

The first weekend of October starts at defending NEC champion Sacred Heart on October 4, in a rematch of last year's NEC semifinals, which went to overtime. The team starts its trek back home with the seventh meeting against Drexel on October 6.

Another brief stay at home when Rider comes to town on October 11 will be followed by another three-game road trip at Loch Haven (October 13), at LIU (October 18) and at Wagner (October 20). It will be the 24th meeting against Loch Haven and the Loretto program has taken nine of the last 12 contests in the series. Two of the three losses have been on the road in this stretch.

After playing 11 of its first 14 games on the road with a trio of three-game road trips, the Red Flash wraps up the regular season with a three-game homestand against Fairfield (October 25), Bellarmine (October 27) and Merrimack (November 1). It will be the seventh tilt against Bellarmine, with Saint Francis on a two-game winning streak.

Saint Francis looks to advance to the NEC Tournament for a program-record third-straight year. The four-team field will be played on November 7-9. The Red Flash advanced to the postseason in back-to-back seasons twice (2011-12 and 2022-23).