BOONE, N.C. - Appalachian State University field hockey fumbled to the Saint Francis Red Flash 6-0 on a windy Sunday afternoon at the Brandon and Erica M. Adcock Field.

“In the first half, we came out really slow, and we allowed them to control the tempo and control the game,” said head coach Meghan Dawson. “I think in the second half, we started to pick it up and play more of our style and we played good defense. And that, I thought, allowed us not to have as many defensive circle entries, which I was excited for the girls about.”

The Red Flash (8-6, 1-3 A-10) dominated the first half producing a perfect performance at App State's goal line. The A-10 squad delivered eight shots and connected on all of their five shots on goal to end the half with a five-goal cushion.

SFU's Shannon Pereira snagged two goals in the first half in under twenty minutes. One goal came on an unassisted drive started at the 25-yard line and Brea Seabrook assisted Pereira's second off of one of their six corners in the first 35-minute period. The other three goals were dished out by Kyra Castano, Brianna Govia and Ruth Mackenzie.

At the start of the second half, the Mountaineers (1-11) began to pick up the pace and pressured the net more striking six shots with four on goal. Also, the defensive front turned it up a notch and contained the Red Flash to one goal in the second.

In the 41st minute, Pereira of SFU would once again score for St. Francis and provide the gaming-winning shot off of one of SFU's three corners of the half to solidify their 6-0 victory over the Mountaineers.

Offense

SFU held the advantage on offense with 11 shots and seven on goal with the bulk of their scoring opportunities coming from their nine penalty corners. Despite a slow start in the first (two shots), App State racked up eight shots with five on goal and snatched five penalty corners.

Senior Stars

“I thought our seniors did awesome,” said Dawson. “ They both worked as hard as they possibly could, and they left it all out on the field, and that is all a coach can ever ask from them. They are both really great people, and I was excited for them. 

App State's offensive aggression was piloted by their two spectacular seniors Micaela Diedericks and Jordan Van Cleave. Both ladies hustled to every ball and enhanced Appalachian's opportunities to score with impressive tackles and several forced turnovers.

Van Cleave was perfect on the day towards the goal line slapping three shots with all three on goal, and Diedericks crashed three shots with one on goal.

At Net

Despite recording only one save in the afternoon, goalkeeper Rachel Gaines put her body on the line for every ball and exerted maximum effort for 70:00 minutes.

Up Next

The Black and Gold will take a two-week break before hitting the pitch again on Friday, Oct. 21 in Oxford, Ohio to take on Miami (OH) at 4:30 p.m.