ERIE, Pa. — The Red Flash of Saint Francis University split their two matches on the final day at the Mercyhurst University Invitational in falling to Gannon University, 10-8, and defeating Siena College, 10-9.
Melani Aghazarian (Glendale, Calif./Glendale (La Valley College)) had six assists on the day to lead the offense, while goalie Katie Wilke (Burbank, Calif./Burroughs) stopped 15 shosts against the Golden Knights of Gannon and 14 more versus the Saints of Siena.
The morning match againt Gannon started slow as each team missed an opportunity to score on early exclusions. Wilke made a key save early to stop the Gannon power play, but the Knights would strike first with an even-strength goal. Emily Rodriguez kept the Red Flash off the scoreboard with a pair of saves and Gannon made it 2-0 moments later. The Knights tacked on a third and led 3-0 after one quarter.
Kelsey Gring (Sinking Spring, Pa./Wilson) got the Red Flash on the board early in the second with a power play goal. Gannon pressed back on the SFU defense and Wilke made two saves to keep it 3-1. The Knights made it 4-1, but Emily Wickenheiser (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Cumberland Valley) put away a chance moments later on another power play to get the Flash back within two. Saint Francis went scoreless the rest of the quarter as Emily Rodriguez made four saves while Gannon scored twice and took a 6-2 lead into the half.
Gannon started the second half in similar fashion to closing out the first. They struck for the first two goals of the half to open an 8-2 lead. Missy McCreary (Altadena, Calif./LaSalle (Citrus College)) would get Saint Francis going in the third by putting home a Tina Bonilla (Los Angeles, Calif./.Birmingham (LA Valley College)) feed. Moments later Bonilla rang one off the post as the breaks seemed to fall Gannon’s way. Katie Wilke held the Knights scoreless the rest of the quarter and it would be 8-3 Gannon heading to the fourth.
The Knights scored a key goal early in the fourth quarter to go up 9-3 before the Flash got rolling. Wilke made two more saves. The second stop sparked a counterattack where Aghazarian fed Wickenheiser to make it 9-4. They would team up again minutes later, with a McCreary goal sandwiched in between to make it 9-6.
Fehr grabbed a steal to setup another Wickenheiser goal to make it 9-7. The Flash then drew an exclusion with Rodriguez standing tall on a pair of chances. Gannon netted an insurance goal late to hang on for a 10-8 win.
Overall, Gannon outshot SFU 39-35. In cage, Wilke made 15 saves to take the loss, while Rodriguez turned aside 13 chances to earn the victory.
The Red Flash closed out the day and the tournamet by holding off Siena for a 10-9 win.
Clare Bryar, who finished with all nine goals for the Saints in the game, scored the first two strikes of the match to stake Siena to a 2-0 lead. Saint Francis answerec back quickly as Wickenheiser and Gring knotted the game at two-all. Fehr scored a goal just before the end of the quarter to give SFU a 3-2 lead after one quarter.
Amber Rogers (Souderton, Pa./Souderton) made it four straight goals for the Red Flash right out of the gate in the second quarter. The Flash defense held Siena at bay through most of the second quarter as SFU forced five-straight turnovers and Wilke made two saves. The defense fueled the offense as Rogers collected a loose ball and found Wickenheiser for another tally to make it 5-2. Bryar’s third of the day came late in the quarter and SFU took a 5-3 lead into the half.
Wickenheiser drew a penalty foul early in the second half and put away the ensuing shot as the Red Flash rebuilt their three-goal advantage. A Wilke save and another forced turnover fueled the SFU offense again as they struck twice more in transition to make it 8-3. Wilke and Sarah Abbott took over in the middle of the quarter, each making three saves as the teams went back and forth. Bryar struck twice more to cut the SFU lead to three but another Wickenheiser tally made it 9-5 heading into the fourth quarter.
Saint Francis found the back of the cage first in the fourth quarter as Wickenheiser’s fifth of the game re-opened a five-goal lead. Bryar then got white hot as she scored four unanswered goals to bring the Saints to within one at 10-9. Abbott kept the Red Flash at bay making two big saves during the run, while SFU missed wide on a pair of shots.
However, Bryar’s last tally came too late in the quarter as SFU was able to run out the clock and earn their fourth win of the season.
The Red Flash outshot Siena 37-29. Wilke made 14 saves and posted a strong .610 save percentage, while Abbot was credited with 18 saves and .643 save percentage for the Saints.
Saint Francis grabbed 18 steals in the win led by Bonilla and Krysta Ponek (Panama City Beach, Fla./Arnold (Utica College)) who each had three.
Release courtesy Saint Francis University Athletics Communications
