WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
>> Saint Francis women's lacrosse won their third-straight game and its second in a row in Northeast Conference (NEC) play in a 14-3 victory at Howard on Thursday.

>> Chyler Espino became the fourth player in Saint Francis women's lacrosse to tally 100 career ground balls and draw controls after collecting four ground balls in today's game.

>> Brooke Lacey led the Red Flash with five points. The junior scored four goals and dished out an assist.

>> Samantha Hewitt finished second on the team in points with four. The freshman registered two goals and two assists.

TURNING POINTS OF THE GAME
Saint Francis dominated the game from start to finish, jumping out to a 6-0 lead through the first 19:27 of game action. Following the Bison's first goal with 6:08 left in the second, the Red Flash responded with two more goals to go up 8-1 heading into the break.

The team kept up the momentum in the second half by outscoring Howard, 6-2, to cruise to the 14-3 victory.

FLASH MOMENTS
Mak Patten (8:02), Julia Givens (6:50), Lacey (4:43), and Hewitt (0:11) scored in the first quarter. Hewitt was responsible for the first three goals before being assisted by Heather Delbone for the final score of the quarter to put the team up 4-0.

Lacey scored three of her goals in the second period, with two of them coming off free position shots at the 13:03 and 10:33 marks. Her third while Saint Francis was a man up with 1:01 left. Christina Roncarati scored unassisted as the lone player to score outside of Lacey with 4:45 left.

The Red Flash scored three goals in the third and fourth quarter. Nancy Alden got the scoring started in the first half with an unassisted goal at the 13:54 mark to make it a 9-1 game. After a Howard goal at the 11:06 mark, Patten dished out an assist to Hewitt with 5:06 left to extend the lead to 10-2. Givens continued the scoring barrage with a goal off a free position shot with 1:37 left to push the advantage to 11-2.

Victoria DiRenno connected with Patten for the first goal at the 13:54 mark of the fourth quarter. It was followed up with Alden scoring off an assist from Lacey with 8:54 left. Roncarati put the finishing touches on the game by scoring unassisted with 5:16 left.

FLASH NUGGETS
Saint Francis sits at fifth in the conference with a 3-3 record after its two-straight victories against FDU and Howard.

Espino now sits with 118 draw controls and 102 ground balls for her career after achieving her career milestone.

Lacey's four goals helped her record her fourth hat trick of the season. The junior remains the leading scorer with 29 goals and is fourth in the NEC overall.

In total, five players scored two goals. Patten and Roncarati each posted two goals and an assist for three points. Givens and Alden racked up two of their own.

The Red Flash posted season highs for ground balls (41) and caused turnovers (19). Patten led the team with seven ground balls, which puts her in a tie for 10th all-time for the most in a game.

DiRenno and Hewitt each notched a season-high four ground balls.

Elizabeth Garcia was the enforcer on the Red Flash defense, tying her previous season high of six ground balls and five caused turnovers that she first recorded at Kent State on March 7. The sophomore now has 26 caused takeaways, tied for the third most in a season in program history. She also was the team leader in draw controls with a season-high six.

Taylor Coughlin tied with Garcia with five caused turnovers and saved four shots.

NEXT UP FOR FLASH
Women's lacrosse will return to DeGol Field to take on Delaware State Saturday, April 12 at 1:00 p.m. Seniors will be honored prior to the game at 12:30.