Saint Francis Women's Soccer Set To Take On VMI For The First Time Since 2017

Women's Soccer | 9/13/2025 9:30:00 AM

OPENING PITCH VS VMI
Saint Francis women's soccer is set to take on VMI for a road match Sunday at 2 p.m. in Lexington, Va. This will mark the third meeting in the all-time series. The last time the two teams met was in 2017.

THE WORD ON THE KEYDETS
VMI enters Sunday's matchup 0-6-1. In the most recent matchups, the Keydet's fell to USC Upstate 2-0, #3 Duke 9-0, UNC Asheville 2-0, and ended in a stalemate with Winthrop. Taliyah Headman leads VMI with two goals followed by Samantha Uschold with one. Goalkeeper, Maren Ryberg, currently has 50 saves in her seven starts for the Keydets.

LAST TIME WE MET
During the 2017 matchup between the two teams, the Red Flash won 4-0. Camryn Tirado led the way for the Red Flash, scoring two goals off the bench, while Gabi Morales and Alyssa McGhee each had a goal for Saint Francis. Goalkeeper, Julia Hernan, made four saves shutting out the Keydets. The last win against VMI in 2017 was the first win of that season where the team went on to win its last NEC Tournament title.

NEXT TIME OUT
Next up, Saint Francis will begin their conference matchups on the road beginning at Stonehill (Sept. 21) at 1 p.m. followed by LIU (Sept. 25) at 12 p.m.

LAST TIME OUT
Saint Francis women's soccer hosted Robert Morris in Loretto Sunday. The Red Flash ended in a stalemate with the Colonials 0-0. Mercedez Paino had two shots on goal for the Red Flash, and Kaitlyn Dempster, Riley Kerr, and Jacklyn Hajnosz each had one. Emma Sawich had eight saves for the Red Flash.

NEC HONORS
Emma Sawich has been named NEC Prime Performer of the Week. Sawich was outstanding in goal for the Red Flash this past week, turning in a career performance against Bucknell. She racked up a personal best of 16 saves in the match. This is her 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 five of the last six games, Sawich has recorded at least eight saves.

Riley Kerr was named the NEC Rookie of the Week September 2nd. It is the first time in her career that he has earned a weekly conference honor. Kerr scored her first collegiate goal in a 1-all draw against Cleveland State on Thursday. Kerr's goal was the first goal of the 2025 season for the Red Flash. In her high school career, Kerr had 122 goals. Kerr marks the third time a Saint Francis women's soccer player has been named NEC Rookie of the Week under head coach Brian Diaz. It is the first time since Alyssa Mella on September 23, 2024, won this honor. Kerr, Anouk Landgraff, Raine Korpics, all a part of the current women's soccer roster, have won this honor to this distinction.

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
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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