Women's Soccer | 10/11/2025 10:00:00 AM

Sunday, October 12 | Wagner | Staten Island, N.Y. | Hameline Field | 1 p.m. | LIVE STATS | LIVE VIDEO   

OPENING PITCH VS WAGNER
Saint Francis women's soccer will head to Staten Island, N.Y., Sunday to take on conference opponent, Wagner at 1 p.m. Saint Francis enters the matchup with Wagner 24-6 in the all time sereies. The Red Flash are still seeking a number in its win column for the 2025 season after many hard fought conference and non-conference matchups. 

THE WORD ON THE SEAHAWKS
Wagner enters Sunday's matchup 3-1-1 in NEC play and 4-2-5 overall, as well as ranked sixth overall in NEC women's soccer standings. The Seahawks are currently on a two game winning streak, which started after its shutout win against Chicago State followed by a win over Stonehill 4-3, in which Wagner scored all four of its goals in the first half and was reliant on its defense throughout the second half to secure the win. 10 Seahawks have goals have on the season. Alana Arjona and Izzy Gomez each have three of their own followed by Kelly Gallagher, Alana Goldsmith, and Ashley Smith with two. 

LAST TIME WE MET
Sunday's early afternoon game marks the 31st meeting in the all time series between the two teams. The very first matchup dates back to 1994 where the Red Flash defeated the Seahawks 3-2. During the most recent meeting in 2024, the Seahawks took the game 1-0. Saint Francis was out shot by Wagner 13-7 with 10 being on goal for the Seahawks versus the Red Flash's six. Lauren Pyle and Rita Kendziora both had two shots in attempt to put one by the goalkeeper and put the Red Flash on the board. Emma Sawich recorded nine saves during the full 90 minutes of the match. 

NEXT TIME OUT 
Next up, the Red Flash will be back in Loretto, Pa., at Stokes Soccerplex taking on Mercyhurst at 4 p.m., following the men's soccer match at 1 p.m.

LAST TIME OUT 
Saint Francis hosted CCSU at home Sunday, October 5. During the conference matchup, the pressure was put on the Red Flash early on through the match as the Blue Devils kept control of the ball for the majority. During the entirety of the first half, only one shot was made on goal by the Red Flash compared to CCSU's nine. Within the last 10 seconds of the first half, CCSU capitalized on a corner kick putting one in the back of the Saint Francis' net. During the second half, possession of the ball was equal between both teams, however no team could complete the play by putting one between the posts. Shots on goal by Saint Francis were taken by Riley Kerr, Meredith Artz, Angelina Kasak, and Raine Korpics. Sawich was a force in goal recording her second highest career saves for a game with 13. The Red Flash fell short 1-0 to the Blue Devils. 

NEC HONORS
Sawich was named NEC Prime Performer of the Week October 6th and September 8th. Sawich was outstanding in goal for the Red Flash, turning in a career performance against Bucknell. She racked up a personal best of 16 saves in the match. This is her second double-digit save game this season and the third of her college career. Sawich has been a steady force in goal lately too. In six of the last seven games, now her fifth in a row, Sawich has recorded at least eight saves. During the matinee conference matchup of Saint Francis and CCSU, Sawich worked hard between the posts and recorded a total of 13 saves for the Red Flash. Sunday's total also marks her second highest save amount of her collegiate career, falling just three saves short behind her career high of 16 at Bucknell. This is the seventh game this season that the senior has recorded eight or more saves a game, breaking her 2024 season mark of six games above eight or more saves. 

Kerr was named NEC Rookie of the Week September 29th and September 2nd. It is the second time in her career that he has earned this weekly conference honor. Kerr made an immediate impact for the Red Flash this past week, scoring in back-to-back matches. In Thursday's NEC matchup against LIU, Kerr outran two defenders before slotting home a left-footed finish to give Saint Francis its first goal of this conference game. She followed up that performance on Sunday against Delaware State, finishing a well-executed sequence that started with a quick touch from Kasak and a give-and-go from Caterina Schiavo to cut the score deficit to one. In her high school career, Kerr had 122 goals. Kerr is the third player for Saint Francis women's soccer, dating back to 1997, to win this the weekly conference honor.    

Kaitlyn Dempster was named NEC Rookie of the Week September 15th. Dempster, along with her first goal, had her first collegiate assist for the Red Flash for Kerr's goal in the 1-all draw against Cleveland State. Dempster marks the fourth time a Saint Francis women's soccer player has been named NEC Rookie of the Week under head coach Brian Diaz. Dempster, Kerr, Anouk Landgraff, Korpics, all a part of the current women's soccer roster, have won this honor to this distinction.  
 
PRESEASON POLL
Saint Francis was picked seventh in the NEC Preseason Poll. Howard, the defending NEC Tournament Champions, picked up seven of the 12 first-place votes to garner preseason favorite honors. FDU earned four votes for second and Wagner earned the final vote to rank third in the poll. CCSU, Stonehill, LIU, Saint Francis, Mercyhurst, Le Moyne, New Haven, Chicago State and Delaware State rounded out the poll. 

RETURNERS TO TALK ABOUT
Korpics returns for her final year as the team's top returning scorer after posting three goals and an assist for seven points. Mercedez Paino also registered two goals for four points last season. Sawich returns in between the pipes after posting 98 saves, a 1.24 goals against average, and a .824 saves percentage that was tops in the NEC in 2024. Lauren Persichetty, 2023 NEC Defensive Player of the Year, made her return to the field and starting lineup after suffering a preseason injury in 2024.

WELCOME TO THE LO' 
In the season opener at Maryland, four Dukes earned their first collegiate starts: Meredith Artz (Monroe Township, N.J./Monroe Township), Hayden Barry (Downingtown, Pa./Downingtown West), Kaitlyn Dempster (Oakland Township, Mich./Rochester Adams), and Hayley Smith (Bargersville, Ind./Center Grove). Off the bench, Riley Kerr (Greensburg, Pa./Greensburg Central Catholic), Ashlyn Fetterman (Hollsopple, Pa./Conemaugh Township), and Angelina Kasak (Lemont, Pa./Pennsylvania Charter) also made their collegiate debuts in College Park. 

In addition, junior Lucia Johnson (Cincinnati, Ohio/Eastern Michigan) made her Saint Francis starting debut. Johnson almost has a six-degrees of Kevin Bacon story. The first time she played a college soccer game was an exhibition game on the Stokes SoccerPlex with the Zips on August 8, 2023. Johnson has played 23 games in her first two seasons with 10 shots. She registered her first collegiate assist against her former Akron team in Ohio as a member of Eastern Michigan on October 31, 2024, for the decisive score. Johnson was a two-time all-conference and all-region player at Turpin High School in Cincinnati. 

Also joining the team is assistant coach Clare Crossley and graduate assistant Ioannis Giannikakis.    

ABOUT THE COACH 
Brian Diaz begins his second season in Loretto. The team doubled its win total from the previous campaign in his first season and helped the team to its best defensive season since 2012. Diaz brought four years of head coach experience from the Division II level, 17 years as an assistant coach (13 years at Division I and four years at Division II), and one year as the Director of Coaching for the Columbus Crew SC in Major League Soccer. In his career, he has coached 54 all-conference selections and 21 all-region honorees.