Saint Francis Women's Soccer Opens 40th Season At Maryland On Sunday

Women's Soccer | 8/15/2025 10:42:00 AM

OPENING PITCH
Saint Francis begins the second season under head coach Brian Diaz and the 40th season in program history at Maryland on Sunday. It will be the first time the two teams will meet on the soccer pitch.

SEASON OPENERS
Saint Francis won the season opener on the road last season at Niagara. The Red Flash is looking to win back-to-back season openers for the first time since 2009 and 2010 when the team defeated Duquesne in the inaugural season opener both campaigns. The squad has a unique overall record with more wins away from Loretto than at Stokes SoccerPlex. The Flash has six wins and five ties on the road in the first game of the year and just two wins at home in those contests.

It will be the second time the squad has opened a season in the DMV after defeating Howard 2-0 in the 2006 season opener in the nation's capital.

It will be the ninth time Saint Francis opens a season against a team currently in a Power 5 Conference, and the first time since the 2021 campaign at Clemson. The Red Flash has also faced off against Power 5 conference teams, including Penn State (1991), Villanova (1999), St. John's (2000, 2014), Miami (2017), and Clemson in the inaugural match of a campaign.

AGAINST THE BIG DOGS
It will be the 24th time the squad will square off against one of these teams in the regular season, owning a 1-0 win against Pittsburgh in 2003 and a 1-all standstill against the Panthers in 2015.

THE WORD ON THE TERPS
Maryland opened the season with a 3-0 win against Lehigh on Thursday. Ava Morales led the Terps with two goals, while Kelsey Smith netted the first tally of the season. Goalkeeper Faith Luckey made three saves in a clean-sheet effort. Maryland is coming off a 4-10-5 season in 2024. A familiar face will be on the Terps sidelines with assistant coach Sara Butler, who was the Red Flash head coach for two seasons before going to College Park in 2024.

NEXT TIME OUT
Saint Francis continues its four-game road trip to start the season at Duquesne on Thursday. The squad will also travel to Cleveland State (August 28) and Toledo (August 31) before hosting Bucknell for its home opener on September 4.

PRESEASON POLL
Saint Francis women's soccer 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
Raine 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. Emma 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.

WELCOME TO THE LO'
Head coach Brian Diaz added freshmen Meredith Artz (Monroe Township, N.J./Monroe Township), Hayden Barry (Downingtown, Pa./Downingtown West), Kaitlyn Dempster (Oakland Township, Mich./Rochester Adams), Ashlyn Fetterman (Hollsopple, Pa./Conemaugh Township), Angelina Kasak (Lemont, Pa./Pennsylvania, Charter Cyber), Riley Kerr (Greensburg, Pa./Greensburg Central Catholic), Izzy Renner (Wolverine Lake, Mich./Walled Lake Central) and Hayley Smith (Bargersville, Ind./Center Grove) to his 2025 roster.

In addition, junior Lucia Johnson Cincinnati, Ohio/Eastern Michigan) transferred to Loretto. 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.

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