Hughes led the Skyhawks with four goals and two assists for six points (PHOTO BY Brian Foley)

Hernandez's nine points leads Red Flash past Skyhawks

LORETTO, Pa. (April 1, 2023) – Saint Francis (Pa.) University rode a ten goal first quarter, holding off a Stonehill College comeback the rest of the way, to claim a 19-18 triumph in Northeast Conference women's lacrosse action at DeGol Field this afternoon. 

Highlights

• Junior Danielle Hernandez led Saint Francis with a game-high nine points on four goals and five assists, while postgrad Autumn McHenry also scored four goals, dishing two assists, for six points as she collected ten draw controls, three caused turnovers and two ground balls.
• Freshman Julia Givens netted a game-high five goals for the Red Flash, adding an assist for six points, with two draws. Senior Lizzie Fisher chipped in three goals.
• Junior Molly Mae Hughes led Stonehill with four goals and two assists for six points. Senior All-American Lydia Rudden dished out a game-high four assists, while adding a goal, for five points.
• Senior All-American Victoria Butler, classmate Kayla Conway and junior Lilly Leach all scored three goals for the Skyhawks, while Leach added nine draw controls and Butler collected eight to go with her career-high matching goal total.
• Postgrad Elyssa Enrique registered 12 saves in goal for Saint Francis, while junior Claire Smith made six stops, while yielding nine goals, over the final 45-minutes of the game in goal for Stonehill in relief of sophomore Sarah Faley.

How it Happened

• Rudden dished out four assists and scored a goal for the Skyhawks (PHOTO BY Brian Foley)

  Stonehill held a 2-1 lead two and a half minutes into the game as Hughes and Butler sandwiched goals around a McHenry free-position goal.
• Saint Francis reeled off a 9-0 run, as Hernandez had a role in six of those markers with three goals and three assists, to open a 10-2 lead after Givens first of the day on a free-position try with 2:21 remaining in the quarter.
• Stonehill would outscore Saint Francis 16-9 the rest of the way, but the comeback effort would fall just a goal short in the end.
• The Skyhawks drew back within two goals (12-9) less then five minutes into the second half after Conway's third goal of the day (18^th of season).
• The teams traded goals and Saint Francis was able to stretch the advantage to five (17-12) with a free-position goal from senior Kelly Dickson 39-seconds into the fourth quarter.
• Stonehill scored the next four goals, with two each from Leach and Hughes, to pull back within a goal (17-16) with four minutes to go.
• Saint Francis extended its cushion back to three with goals from McHenry and Givens that would prove to seal the win with 1:13 remaining.
• Stonehill made another push though, as postgrad All-American Emma Sullivan and Butler scored 16-seconds apart to cut the deficit back to a goal with 33-seconds left.
• Stonehill won the ensuing draw as well, but Saint Francis forced a turnover and collected the ground ball, to close out the win.

Noteworthy

• Rudden, who set the program's career assist mark against Merrimack College on Wednesday and extended her total to 136 today, finished with multiple assists for the seventh-straight game with four-plus assists in four-straight.
• Rudden moved into 12^th place on Stonehill's career scoring list with 208 points after her 43^rd career game today.
• Hughes scored multiple goals for the fourth-straight game.
• Nine different Skyhawks scored goals.
• In addition to her goal, giving her 191 points in 61 career games played, Sullivan contributed five draw controls, five ground balls and a season-high four caused turnovers.

Up Next

Stonehill (2-7, 2-2 NEC) is back in action on Tuesday, when it visits Harvard University for a non-conference matchup at 5 p.m. The Skyhawks return to W.B. Mason Stadium next Saturday, April 8, when it hosts Sacred Heart University at W.B. Mason Stadium at 1 p.m. Saint Francis (6-4, 2-2 NEC) visits Merrimack College next Saturday at noon.

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