LORETTO, Pa. (Oct. 25, 2009) – The Saint Francis field hockey team took the league’s top ranked team, the Rider Broncs, into overtime but couldn’t find the back of the net as they fell 1-0 in overtime on Sunday afternoon at DeGol Field.

Prior to the game, seniors Sara Dittmann (State College, Pa./State College Area), Allison Severage (Garwood, N.J./Arthur L. Johnson) and Mary Wright (Virginia Beach, Va./Kempville) were honored by the Red Flash as part of the team’s annual Senior Day event.

Saint Francis did a good job of setting the pace of the game, with most of the first half taking place in the midfield. Severage had the team’s lone shot on goal, and created many opportunities as she outran opponents. However, the Red Flash couldn’t convert on any of those chances.

Sophomore goalkeeper Kate Vitali (Bel Air, Md./C Milton Wright) had some fantastic saves in the second half, making four stops in regulation to take the game into overtime.

After a Rider player was awarded a yellow card, SFU had a man advantage for the first few minutes of overtime. They couldn’t take advantage of the wide-open field and remained scoreless.

A little under ten minutes into overtime, Rider’s Marlaine Schneider sent a pass over to Virginia Egusquiza. Eguisquiza beat Vitali to end the game, with the Broncs taking the 1-0 victory and remaining undefeated in the Northeast Conference.

Vitali made six saves in the game as the Red Flash were outshot 11-1. SFU falls to 2-14 overall and 2-4 in the NEC. They will travel to Connecticut to play Sacred Heart on Friday at 3:30 p.m. before taking on Quinnipiac at noon on November 1.