Saint Francis Field Hockey Earns First Ever Road Win at Monmouth
WEST LONG BRANCH, N.J. (Oct. 12, 2007) – The Saint Francis field hockey team continued its breakthrough 2007 season with several program firsts on Friday in a 2-1 win at Monmouth.
The Red Flash scored two unanswered goals to earn its first-ever road win, and improve to 3-10 on the season and 3-1 in the Northeast Conference. It was also the program’s first-ever win over Monmouth. Saint Francis came into the match with an all-time record of 0-60 on the road in the program’s first six-plus seasons. The Red Flash entered the 2007 campaign with just three wins in the program’s brief history.
Senior Annie Paccione (Red Hook, N.Y. / Red Hook) has been around for all of the program’s wins, and she played a pivotal role in Friday’s victory. She scored an unassisted goal at 57 minutes, 12 seconds to give Saint Francis a 2-1 lead. It was her first goal of the season, and first career game-winner.
Junior goalkeeper Erin Reifsteck (Battle Creek, Mich. / Saint Phillip), who leads the nation with 11.00 saves per game, stopped seven shots to record the win. She also entered the week 19th in the nation in save percentage at .781.
The Red Flash were outshot 16-12 in the game, including 12-5 in the first half, but they turned it around and held a 7-4 edge in shots in the second half.
Annie Lopresti put the Hawks on top 1-0 at 33:36 on a pass from Molly Passarella. Monmouth took the lead into the break, but Saint Francis came away with the only two goals in the second half.
Redshirt freshman Mary Wright (Virginia Beach, Va. / Kempsville) scored her first career goal at 43:47 to tie the match at 1-1. The goal came off a penalty corner, and freshman Caitlin Brown (Hamburg, Pa. / Hamburg Area) received an assist on the play.
Paccione’s fifth career goal moved her into a tie for fifth place on Saint Francis’ all-time list. She now has 14 career points, which moves her into a tie for fourth the Red Flash career list.