St. Francis Shows Flashes of Winning Team

from press release

LORETTO, Pa. -- Chelsea Kent (Winter Springs, Fla./Winter Springs) did more than earn herself a spot in Saint Francis lore when she blasted a shot past goalkeeper Alex Johnston with 12 seconds remaining of overtime in the Saint Francis women's lacrosse team's 13-12 victory over Wagner on Friday; she showed that the Red Flash's early season start may not be a fluke after all.

Working from a ground ball pickup from Kate Simmons (Delran, N.J./Delran), Kent scored the biggest goal of the 2010 season for the Red Flash, who move up to 4-3 overall and 1-0 in the Northeast Conference.  It is the latest in the season the Red Flash have ever sat above the .500 mark.  More importantly, the win snapped a 37-game losing streak in the NEC, with the last win coming five years and one coach ago, an 11-6 win over Robert Morris on April 6, 2005.

If Kent's goal was the biggest of the season, then second on that list had to be the goal from Simmons to tie the game at 12-12.  The Seahawks sent the game to overtime with 34 seconds left on a Karen Vitkus goal and drew first blood in overtime when Krista Malayter took a pass from Vitkus and buried it behind goalkeeper Danielle Pokusa (Cinnaminson, N.J./Cinnaminson) to give Wagner the 12-11 lead.

After Wagner took control of the ball at 3:12, they worked down the field but eventually turned the ball over in the offensive end.  Picked up by Simmons, she made her way to the net and fired a shot towards Johnston, who was unable to handle the rebound.  The ball returned to Simmons stick, and she made no mistake on her second opportunity, putting it past Johnston.

Wagner had control the game early on, scoring two goals in the first two minutes, but the Red Flash tied it up on goals from Simmons and Catherine Helming (Canandaigua, N.Y. / Canandaigua Academy).  Erika Bulken again gave Wagner the lead, but Stephanie Toomey (East Rochester, N.Y. / East Rochester) added her first of the game to tie it again.  The teams would trade a pair of goals, but Wagner would score another before the break to make it 5-4 at half.

The opening draw of the second half lasted for nearly 10 minutes before Simmons potted a pass from Kent to tie the score at five goals apiece.  Conwell would score the next two goals for the Red Flash in a span of less than 30 seconds, and it appeared the Red Flash might well put themselves ahead for good.

At 17:18, Lauren Petrik of Wagner forced a turnover that led directly to the coal of Melanie Garces, who scored on a free position shot because of a foul on SFU's Toomey.  Simmons netted another to put her team up 8-6, but goals by Malayter and Carolyn Clark in roughly one minute negated the lead.

Simmons scored on a free position goal to give her team but the 9-8 lead, but Wagner took the ensuing draw control and scored on a goal from Dana Marchitelli.  The teams would trade the next several goals to send the game to overtime.

Kate Simmons led the way for the Red Flash with six goals, and three other players (Conwell, Kent and Helming) contributed two goals and two assists each.  Pokusa faced 21 shots from the Seahawks, making nine stops and allowing 12 goals.

The Red Flash play at DeGol Field on Sunday, March 21 at 1 p.m. against the Long Island Blackbirds.