Women's Lacrosse 4/11/2025 10:00:00 AM

Saint Francis Women's Lacrosse Hosts Delaware State For Senior Day On Saturday

OPENING DRAW
Saturday's game between Saint Francis and Delaware State marks the eighth meeting in the series dating back to the 2013 campaign. The Red Flash has won all seven tilts in the series.

THANK YOU, SENIORS
Saint Francis would like to thank seniors Nancy Alden, Olivia Baldini, Taylor Coughlin, Victoria DiRenno, Chyler Espino, Makayla Murray, Colleen Roche, and Christina Roncarati for their hard work and dedication to Saint Francis and the women's lacrosse program during their time in a Red Flash uniform. Prior to Saturday's game against Delaware State, Saint Francis will recognize both team's senior class. The ceremony will begin at 12:30 p.m.

THE WORD ON THE HORNETS
Delaware State comes into the contest 1-11 overall and 0-6 in Northeast Conference play after falling 19-9 to Wagner on Wednesday. London Downing paced the Hornets with four goals, and Ceanna McGirt also had a pair of markers against the Seahawks. Downing leads the team with 17 goals and four assists for 21 points. Hannah McMasters is second on the team with eight goals and seven assists for 15 points, and Zahra Gotz is third with seven tallies and four assists for 11 points. Gotz also powers the team in draw controls (23) and ground balls (19), while Nailah Green has a team-best 16 caused turnovers. Kimmari Mondy leads the team with 104 saves, a 15.81 goals against average, and a .392 save percentage.

LAST TIME WE MET
Bella Fisher scored three of the first four goals, and four times in the first half to help Saint Francis to its sixth-straight win on April 10, 2024, with a 14-6 win against Delaware State. Nancy Alden, Danielle Hernandez, and Julia Givens recorded hat tricks, while Hernandez added an assist. Zahra Gotz fueled the Hornets with a hat trick. Taylor Coughlin made seven saves for Saint Francis, and Yeda Couto-Erickson led the Delaware State netminders with five stops.

LAST WEEK'S ACTION
Saint Francis played three games in five days and came out with a win in all three games. Freshman Samantha Hewitt led the way in the three games with seven goals and five assists, including four goals and two assists in a 10-8 win against Central Michigan on Monday. Junior Brooke Lacey registered eight goals and three assists in the three games, including three goals, and an assist in a 13-11 win against FDU on April 5, and four tallies and an assist in a 14-3 win against Howard on Wednesday. Senior Taylor Coughlin has registered 15 saves in the three games with a 7.33 goals against average. Sophomore Elizabeth Garcia tallied 12 ground balls, 10 caused turnovers, and eight draw controls in the three games. Senior Victoria DiRenno scooped up 12 draw controls to miss the single-game program record by one draw.

NEXT TIME OUT
Saturday's game will be the final home game of the season, but the Red Flash wrap up the season with two games on the road: at LIU on April 19 and Le Moyne on April 26.

WHERE WE STAND IN THE NEC
Saint Francis is 3-3 in NEC play with three games to go and currently sits in fifth place in the standings. However, Mercyhurst is sitting in the fourth spot but is ineligible for the postseason, so the Red Flash currently hold a one-game lead on the final playoff spot. FDU, Le Moyne and CCSU are 2-4 and behind Saint Francis, but the Red Flash holds the tiebreaker with both FDU and CCSU after wins earlier this season against both teams. Le Moyne is the team's final regular season game and could decide both teams' playoff fates.

NEC STATS
Sophomore Elizabeth Garcia leads the NEC in caused turnovers (2.00) and ranks second in ground balls per game (3.08). Garcia is also 11th in NCAA Division I in ground balls and 23rd in caused turnovers. Senior Taylor Coughlin is second in goals against average (11.08), second in saves per game (8.54), third in save percentage (.435), eighth in caused turnovers (1.38), and ninth in ground balls (2.38). Coughlin is 36th in the country in saves per game and 56th in the nation in save percentage. Junior Mak Patten is fifth in assists (1.08) and seventh in points (2.46). Junior Brooke Lacey is fourth in goals (2.42), fourth in points (3.08), and fourth in shots (6.00). Senior Victoria DiRenno is fourth in draw controls (4.31), while senior Chyler Espino is fourth in ground balls (2.54). DiRenno is 76th in the nation in draws. Senior Christina Roncarati is seventh in goals (1.92) and eighth in points (2.46), and freshman Samantha Hewitt is seventh in assists (0.92).

NEC HONORS
Senior Victoria DiRenno was named a Northeast Conference Prime Performer for March 31-April 6. She registered 12 draw controls to help Saint Francis rally for a 13-11 win against FDU on Saturday. The 12 draw controls were the second most in Red Flash single-game history. The 12 draws are the second most this season in the NEC and the most in an NEC game.

Senior Christina Roncarati, junior Mak Patten, and sophomore Elizabeth Garcia lead the team with two NEC Prime Performer selections. Patten had a goal and five assists in the opening week matches in Ohio (February 10-16) and then had a career-high five goals and two assists against CCSU (March 11-16). Roncarati had four goals against Duquesne to earn the honor for February 17-23 and then matched Patten with five goals and two assists against the Blue Devils. Garcia tallied seven ground balls and five caused turnovers in two games for the week of March 24-30 and also earned the distinction the week she was named NEC Defensive Player of the Week (February 17-23).

Junior Brooke Lacey was named Prime Performers for the week she won NEC Player of the Week honors. Junior Julia Givens was named a Prime Performer for February 10-16 after tallying five goals, four caused turnovers, and three draw controls, including four goals against Youngstown State. Senior Taylor Coughlin earned a prime selection for March 17-24 after posting 12 saves, a career-high six ground balls, and four caused turnovers against Wagner.

In major weekly awards this season, freshman Samantha Hewitt leads the team with two NEC Rookie of the Week awards for February 17-23 (four goals and an assist in a win against Duquesne on February 22) and March 11-16 (three goals and an assist in victory against CCSU on March 15). Along with Hewitt's two NEC Rookie of the Week honors, Lacey was named the NEC Player of the Week, and Garcia earned NEC Defensive Player of the Week for February 17-23, along with Hewitt's top rookie selection. It was the third time the Red Flash has swept all three awards in the last three seasons. Lacey registered a career-high seven goals, and Garcia registered four caused turnovers, five ground balls, and two draw controls in the program's first-ever win against Duquesne. Freshman Heather Delbone earned the NEC Rookie of the Week for February 10-16. Delbone registered three goals and an assist in her first two collegiate games of her career.

PRESEASON POLL
The Saint Francis women's lacrosse team has been tabbed to finish fifth, according to the Northeast Conference (NEC) preseason poll. LIU was selected as the unanimous preseason favorite, while Stonehill, Le Moyne, Wagner, Saint Francis, FDU, CCSU Delaware State, Mercyhurst, and Howard round out the 10-team poll. Mercyhurst is in its first year in the NEC.

A DAVID PUDDY HIGH-FIVE
Junior Brooke Lacey registered a career-high seven goals against Duquesne on February 22. Senior Christina Roncarati and junior Julia Givens each had a career-high five goals against CCSU on March 15. Senior Nancy Alden was the other player on the roster to have at least a five-goal game coming into the season with her five-tally performance at Kent State on March 13, 2024.

HATTIES

Junior Julia Givens leads the team with 10 career hat tricks, including a four-goal performance against Youngstown State on February 16. Junior Brooke Lacey has seven hat tricks in her career, while senior Nancy Alden has three hat tricks in their career. Senior Christina Roncarati has three after recording a four-goal performance in her freshman and senior campaigns and a career-high five goals against CCSU on March 15. Freshman Samantha Hewitt has three hat tricks this season, including a pair of four-goal performances. Senior Mak Patten (five goals vs. CCSU) and freshman Heather Delbone (Charlotte, March 4) each have one hattie in 2025, while junior Victoria DiRenno posted a hat trick last season.

CAREER MILESTONE ALERT
Senior Taylor Coughlin is sixth for career saves with 283 and is the seventh player in team history to reach 200 stops. She can become the sixth player with 300 saves and 17 saves, and she can move into the Top-5 for saves with 45 shots turned away. Coughlin is the program's all-time leader in goals against average (11.38).

Senior Chyler Espino moved back into the top 10 in career draw controls with 118 draws. Currently in sixth place, Espino can jump into fifth place with two draw controls and fourth place with four draws. She became the eighth player in team history with 100 draws against CCSU on March 15, the sixth player in team history with 100 ground balls against Howard on April 9, and the fourth player to have 100 ground balls and 100 draw controls in her career. She has 102 ground balls in her career and can move into fifth place with three ground balls. She has also moved into the Top-10 for caused turnovers with 47 and can move into seventh place with three caused miscues and fifth place with five caused turnovers.

Senior Victoria DiRenno has moved into eighth place for career draw controls with 88 and can become the eighth player in team history with 100 draws with 12 more draw controls.

SEASON MILESTONE ALERT
Sophomore Elizabeth Garcia has moved into the season charts for both ground balls and caused turnovers. With 26 caused turnovers this season, she needs four to tie the single-season record in program history. She sits in a tie for third and can move into second place with two caused miscues. The sophomore also moved into the top 10 for ground balls with 40 and can move into ninth with one ground ball, sixth with two, fifth with three, and fourth with six. Senior Victoria DiRenno has 56 draw controls to rank ninth on the single-season chart in the category. She can climb the charts quickly with one draw to move into eighth, four into seventh, and five into sixth. On the freshman charts, Samantha Hewitt ranks second in assists, with the program record for freshmen sitting at 27. The freshman is seventh with 31 points as a freshman, two points away from sixth, six points from fifth, and nine points from third. She is also 10th in goals with 19 and can move into eighth with one goal, seventh with two, and sixth with five goals. Junior Mak Patten needs four assists to join the season chart for assists.

COLLEGIATE FIRSTS
Freshman Heather Delbone notched the first goal of the season against Akron on February 11 for her first collegiate goal. Fellow freshman Samantha Hewitt notched her first collegiate score against Youngstown State on February 16. Junior Mak Patten assisted with both tallies. Delbone, Hewitt, Bella Teche, and Lily Robertson saw their first collegiate action as a member of the starting lineup, while Lani Filoon came off the bench for her first collegiate action against Akron. Filoon recorded her first career assist against CCSU on March 15.

AYE, AYE, CAPTAIN
Seniors Taylor Coughlin and Chyler Espino, and junior Brooke Lacey have been elected team captains for the 2025 season. Senior Victoria DiRenno, junior Julia Givens, and Elizabeth Mahmud have been named to the Leadership Council.

RETURNING ALL-NEC PERFORMERS
Senior Chyler Espino returns in 2025 for her senior season after being injured in the first game of the 2024 season at Oregon. Espino was an All-NEC first-team performer in her sophomore campaign. Junior Julia Givens was an All-NEC second-team recipient in 2024.

WELCOME TO THE LO'
Saint Francis women's lacrosse head coach Morgan Gott has added 11 newcomers to the team in 2025. Sophomore Elizabeth Garcia, and freshmen Kayla Adam, Heather Delbone, Lani Filoon, Samantha Hewitt, Mackenzie Metzger, Sav Musto, Lily Robertson, Bella Tesche and Calyssa Yankow joined the Red Flash for the 2025 campaign. Garcia and Robertson transferred to Saint Francis for the spring semester. Gott also added assistant coach Craig Lowery to the team.

FROM THE GREAT WHITE NORTH
Saint Francis has four players who hail from Canada: Seniors Olivia Baldini (Hamilton, Ontario) and Taylor Coughlin (Hespeler, Ontario), junior Mak Patten (Welland, Ontario), and freshman Sav Musto (Stouffville, Ontario). Both goalkeepers (Coughlin and Musto) are from Canada.

ABOUT THE COACH
Head coach Morgan Gott is in her first season in Loretto after serving as an assistant coach for the last two seasons. She registered her first career win as a head coach thanks to a 17-11 victory against Duquesne on February 22, 2025, and her first NEC win with a 22-2 win against CCSU on March 15, 2025. In 2023, she helped the Red Flash set a program record for overall wins (10), conference wins (5), and longest winning streak (6) and clinched the program's first-ever NEC Tournament appearance. In the two seasons as an assistant coach, Gott helped the Red Flash to an 18-14 overall record, a 12-6 record in NEC play, and the first two NEC Tournament appearances in program history.

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