Saint Francis Womens Soccer Heads to Ohio For Pair of Games

Women's Soccer | 8/27/2025 10:00:00 AM

OPENING PITCH VS CLEVELAND STATE
Saint Francis and Cleveland State will have their fourth meeting of all time dating back to 2005 on Thursday. The last time Saint Francis's Red Flash beat the Vikings was during their very first matchup in 2005. Cleveland State and the Red Flash ended in a draw last season, 1-1.

THE WORD ON THE VIKINGS
Cleveland State's Vikings are currently holding a 1-2 record. In their opening match of the season, the Rockets fell to Kent State 1-0, followed by a 2-0 win over Southern Indiana, and most recently a loss to Bowling Green 2-1. Mayra Sesmas, Sophia Cucchetti, and Elise Boyd all lead the team so far in goals with one.

LAST TIME WE MET
The last time the Saint Francis Red Flash beat the Vikings was during their very first matchup in 2005. During the 2024 season, the Cleveland State and Saint Francis match up ended in a draw 1-1. Emma Sawich had a total of five saves for the Red Flash. Lauren Pyle, assisted by Tomke Dziesiaty, scored the only goal for Saint Francis. For Cleveland State, their only goal was assisted by Livia Penton and scored by Bella Delfino. Madison Ott had three saves in goal for the Vikings.

OPENING PITCH VS TOLEDO
Saint Francis and Toledo will meet for the second time in Red Flash women's soccer history since 1997. The last time the Red Flash and the Rockets met was September 6, 1997, where the Red Flash were defeated 5-0.

THE WORD ON THE ROCKETS
Toledo Rockets are currently holding a 1-1-1 record. In their opening match of the season, the Vikings fell to Eastern Kentucky 3-1, followed by a draw 1-1 with Cincinatti, and coming off a win to Oakland 1-0 last Sunday. Kaema Amachree, Keeley Clinton, and Morgan Spitler all lead the team so far in goals with one.

NEXT TIME OUT
Saint Francis will host its home opener against Bucknell (September 4) followed by another game at Stokes Soccerplex against Robert Morris (September 7).

LAST TIME OUT
Saint Francis fell to Duquesne 3-0 last Thursday (August 21) in Pittsburgh, Pa. Emma Sawich had four saves for the Red Flash. Maridza Desir had three shots on goal, two being back-to-back with four minutes left on the clock. Riley Kerr also had a scoring opportunity but missed left.

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. 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.

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