Red Flash Field Hockey Tops Bryant in Record-Breaking Game for First Win
LORETTO, Pa. (Sept. 12, 2008) – The Saint Francis field hockey team broke numerous program records on it’s way to their first win of the season against Bryant University by a score of 5-2 on Friday evening at DeGol Field. This is also the Red Flash’s first win under new head coach Stacey Bean.
The Flash return to DeGol Field for a contest against Radford at noon on Sunday.
This is the earliest in the season the Saint Francis squad has ever won a game. Prior to the 2008 season, the earliest the Flash had won a game was on September 21, when they beat Siena College. The victory also marked the first ever defeat of a non-conference opponent.
Senior midfielder Belen Albanes (Atlanta, Ga./Dunwoody) started the night off with a natural hat trick to give the Flash a 3-0 lead with ten minutes to go in the first half. Albanes’ 3 goals lifted her career points total to 40, making her the all-time points leader at Saint Francis. She now has 19 career goals, also another school record, and 2 assists. Her 6 shots tied the school record for shots in a game.
The previous points and goals leader, Erin Davis, had 14 career goals and 7 assists in her time with the Red Flash from 2002-2005. Davis is also the only other player in history to have a hat trick, which she accomplished on Sept. 21, 2005.
Junior Therese Nunnally (El Cajon, Calif./University of San Diego) and sophomore Eileen Paccione (Red Hook, N.Y./Red Hook) assisted on Albanes’s first and second goal, respectively. Sophomore back Rebecca Reiff (Farmington, N.J./Wall) and Jesse Ehrhardt (Hackettstown, N.J./Mount Olive) had the assists on Albanes’s third goal.
Sophomore Julia Baczeski (Southbury, Conn./Pomperaug) scored her first goal of the season at 28:25 in the first half, on a feed from fellow sophomore Jordan Beaston (Sherman’s Dale, Pa./West Perry). The Red Flash’s fifth goal came from freshman midfielder Julia Moore (Jarrettsville, Md./North Harford), who scored for the first time in her collegiate career. Moore was unassisted on her tally.
Bryant’s first goal came at 57:22 on a shot by junior midfielder Caitlan Johnson. Alexandra Czerniak tallied an unassisted goal in a scramble in front of the net less than two minutes later. The Bulldogs, who fall to 1-4 on the season, recently transitioned from Division II to Division I and are in the midst of joining the Northeast Conference.
Saint Francis goalkeeper Erin Reifsteck (Battle Creek, Mich./Saint Phillip) got her first win of the season.
The Red Flash’s 5 goals are tie the program record for most goals in a game. A 6-5 overtime win against UMBC on Sept. 21, 2005, is the only other game in which the Flash totaled 5 goals.