HOUSAND OAKS, Calif. — Saint Francis University split a pair of games on the final day of the California Lutheran University Tina Finali Invitational as the Red Flash burned Division III No. 8 Occidental College, 9-4, and was extinguished by the host/Division III No. 4 Regals, 10-4.
In Saint Francis’ West Coast opener, the Red Flash got a balanced offense with five different goal scorers including a hat trick from Kelly Fehr (Erie, Pa./Villa Maria Academy) to capture a 9-4 victory.
The match got off to a slow start as the teams traded four turnovers in the opening stages of the first quarter. After Kate Wilke (Burbank, Calif./Burroughs) made one of her 11 saves, the Flash got a bad break after Emily Wickenheiser (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Cumberland Valley) rang one off the goal post. Moments later, Tina Bonilla (Los Angeles, Calif / Birmingham (LA Valley College)) got SFU on the board with her first of two goals of the day to stake SFU to a 1-0 lead.
A late first-quarter exclusion gave SFU a power play that carried over into the second. They took advantage as Kelly Fehr (Erie, Pa./Villa Maria Academy) fed Kelsey Gring (Sinking Spring, Pa./Wilson) for a power-play goal, set up by a Erin O’Neill (Landsdale, Pa./North Penn) steal. After failing to score on another exclusion Emily Wickenheiser (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Cumberland Valley) made it 3-0 after putting away a Tina Bonilla pass. Wilke would make four saves in the second as the Red Flash took a 3-0 lead into the half.
SFU would start the second half as they ended the first, with Fehr scoring her second of the game to make it 4-0 early in the third. Wickenheiser made it 5-0 after SFU killed off another exclusion penalty. After the goalies traded a pair of saves and the Red Flash killed off another penalty, Bonilla cashed in her second of the match to make it 6-0 off a pass from Amber Rogers (Souderton, Pa./Souderton). A late Tigers’ goal made it 6-1 heading into the fourth.
It would be 8-1 Red Flash after Fehr completed the hat trick with two goals that were sandwiched around a pair of big saves from Wilke. The Tigers would strike with three quick goals in the middle of the quarter that made it 8-4. Wilke would make another big save that led to a late Missy McCreary (Altadena, Calif./LaSalle (Citrus College)) goal to round out the scoring.
The Red Flash out shot Occidental 22-19 and went one-for-six on the power play while killing off all five Tigers’ power-play opportunities.
The Red Flash got off to a slow start against the host Regals of Cal Lutheran in Saint Francis’ second game of the day.
CLU struck early on their first shot of the day to jump in front. SFU put pressure on the Regals to force three-straight turnovers, but the Red Flash were unable to beat Bailey Meyer.
Wilke got a transition game started by feeding Wickenheiser for her first goal of the match to tie the score at one-all. However, Megan Seeman put away back-to-back chances, including an inaugural strike via a rebound off the post, to stake Cal Lutheran to a 3-1 lead after one quarter of play.
The Regals made it 4-1 on a Nicole Roed goal, while Meyer and the Regals’ defense would make the lead hold up to keep Saint Francis in check. Meyer posted four saves and get aided by a pair of posts to hold the Red Flash off the scoreboard in the second quarter. Roed added another score late in the second quarter and CLU forced Wilke into a pair of saves late as CLU led 5-1 at the half.
The Flash struck twice at the start of the third with Wickenheiser finishing a Bonilla pass and Wickenheiser feeding Fehr to make it 5-3. Fehr hit the post on her next shot but kept her hot hand when she finished on another Wickenheiser pass to make it 5-4. The Regals regained momentum after it became 5-4, scoring on their next three shots on goal to take a 8-4 lead into the fourth quarter.
The goalies took over in the fourth quarter as both Wilke and Meyer made a pair of saves early. Wilke caught a break on a shot that hit the post on an SFU exclusion. The Flash continued to pepper Meyer with shots but could not find the goal. Late Regal tallies pushed the lead out to the 10-4 final score.
The Flash recorded 21 steals in the match, but 16 saves from Meyer were too much to overcome. Further, Saint Francis outshot Cal Lutheran by a 31-25 count.
Release courtesy Saint Francis University Athletics Communications
