Latest news with #NECChampionship
Yahoo
16-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Late surge has Red Flash back in the NCAA Tournament
LORETTO (WTAJ) — Stop me if you've heard this story before: the Red Flash catch fire at the end of the season, winning 11 of their last 12, including an NEC Championship to secure their spot in the NCAA Tournament. That's the story of Saint Francis softball. It's a similar script that Saint Francis basketball used to end their 30-plus year tournament drought, only the Red Flash are no strangers to the NCAA Softball Tournament. Friday's matchup against Texas A&M will make it the seventh time in eight years that SFU is in it. The Red Flash got here with a 26-24 record, a sharp drop-off from the team's 41 wins last spring. Still, an NEC Championship run sends them to the College Station region with the overall top seed, Texas A&M. 'We started a lot of freshmen, a lot of sophomores, who sat on the bench last year. And so they just had to get the nerves out and they had to figure out what a Saint Francis softball look like for this group,' said second year head coach Beth Krysiak. Since 2017, Saint Francis has been a staple at the NCAA Tournament. Last year, a 1-0 win over Sienna in the Evanston Regional marked the team's second all-time postseason victory. It gave the team a lesson they carried into Friday's matchup. 'It's a big stage, but everyone messes up and I feel like everything that happened just kind of brought us closer together,' said junior outfielder Savannah Nash. 'I think that just not thinking of or thinking about what we're doing, and just putting (the game) that into perspective.' 'Being at the one seed is continuing to thrive in chaos for us. And we've done nothing but that this year,' said Krysiak. 'So continuing to thrive in that chaos, I believe that we can come out on the other side. We can definitely go take a game or two.' Saint Francis plays Texas A&M at 3:30 Friday on the SEC Network, proceeding a game between Marist and Liberty. The NCAA softball regionals are a two-loss elimination format. It runs Friday through Sunday. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
19-03-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Saint Francis students take in March madness game at watch party, thankful for exciting season despite the loss
LORETTO, Pa. (WTAJ)– Several Saint Francis students gathered at the John F. Kennedy Student Center on Tuesday night, to watch the men's basketball team take on Alabama State in the first Four rounds of March Madness. This was no small occasion for Saint Francis, as it was the program's first time making the NCAA Tournament since 1991. Several students were sporting red t-shirts for the game, meant to poke fun at how small of a school Saint Francis is, that said 'Nowheresville.' 'Yeah, I'd say it's pretty crazy. I definitely did not expect this whenever I first came here but it's awesome to see the guys doing really well,' said one student who came out for the watch party. It was an unexpected season, even for band member Stephen Jacobs, who watched every home game the team played this year. After a slow start, his hopes weren't that high. 'But whenever we got to playoffs they really kicked it into gear,' Jacobs said. 'Whenever we went to the NEC Championship game it was insane.' 'It was pretty exciting when we won the conference championship game, I completely blew out my voice for the next 2 days,' said another Red Flash fan. 'I couldn't speak.' Ultimately the game ended in heartbreak with Alabama State winning on a near buzzer-beater. Still, the team's loyal fans say it was all worth it.'They have not seen this type of exposure in maybe ever and this type of thing is just something that can really invigorate a community,' Jacobs said. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
15-03-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Fairleigh Dickinson faces Stonehill in NEC Championship game
Stonehill Skyhawks (17-14, 13-5 NEC) at Fairleigh Dickinson Knights (28-3, 18-0 NEC) Teaneck, New Jersey; Sunday, 12 p.m. EDT BOTTOM LINE: Fairleigh Dickinson and Stonehill play for the NEC Championship. The Knights are 18-0 against NEC opponents and 10-3 in non-conference play. Fairleigh Dickinson is 20-3 in games decided by at least 10 points. The Skyhawks are 13-5 against NEC opponents. Stonehill is 8-1 when it turns the ball over less than its opponents and averages 15.8 turnovers per game. Fairleigh Dickinson averages 67.6 points per game, 2.1 more points than the 65.5 Stonehill allows. Stonehill scores 9.9 more points per game (64.8) than Fairleigh Dickinson allows (54.9). The teams meet for the third time this season. The Knights won 74-57 in the last matchup on Feb. 27. Ava Renninger led the Knights with 18 points, and Megan Sias led the Skyhawks with 17 points. TOP PERFORMERS: Teneisia Brown is scoring 14.4 points per game and averaging 9.9 rebounds for the Knights. Lilly Parke is averaging 2.4 made 3-pointers over the last 10 games. Kylie Swider is averaging 12.9 points and 8.9 rebounds for the Skyhawks. Sharn Hayward is averaging 3.4 made 3-pointers over the last 10 games. LAST 10 GAMES: Knights: 10-0, averaging 70.2 points, 35.0 rebounds, 15.4 assists, 7.6 steals and 1.5 blocks per game while shooting 43.2% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 49.1 points per game. Skyhawks: 8-2, averaging 66.8 points, 27.9 rebounds, 14.8 assists, 4.3 steals and 1.9 blocks per game while shooting 44.6% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 58.9 points. ___ The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
Washington Post
10-03-2025
- Sport
- Washington Post
Central Connecticut State Blue Devils take on the Saint Francis (PA) Red Flash in NEC Championship
Saint Francis (PA) Red Flash (15-17, 10-8 NEC) at Central Connecticut State Blue Devils (25-6, 16-2 NEC) Tuesday, 7 p.m. EDT BOTTOM LINE: Cent. Conn. St. and Saint Francis (PA) meet in the NEC Championship. The Blue Devils are 16-2 against NEC opponents and 9-4 in non-conference play. Cent. Conn. St. leads the NEC with 25.4 defensive rebounds per game led by Devin Haid averaging 4.5. The Red Flash's record in NEC games is 10-8. Saint Francis (PA) is 7-9 in games decided by 10 points or more. Cent. Conn. St.'s average of 7.2 made 3-pointers per game this season is only 0.9 fewer made shots on average than the 8.1 per game Saint Francis (PA) allows. Saint Francis (PA) averages 8.3 made 3-pointers per game this season, 0.8 more makes per game than Cent. Conn. St. gives up. TOP PERFORMERS: Jordan Jones is scoring 14.5 points per game and averaging 3.3 rebounds for the Blue Devils. Haid is averaging 17.6 points and 5.9 rebounds over the last 10 games. Riley Parker is averaging 13.6 points and 3.4 assists for the Red Flash. Daemar Kelly is averaging 12.0 points over the last 10 games. LAST 10 GAMES: Blue Devils: 10-0, averaging 76.3 points, 32.4 rebounds, 13.7 assists, 8.1 steals and 4.0 blocks per game while shooting 49.7% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 63.7 points per game. Red Flash: 7-3, averaging 74.1 points, 30.6 rebounds, 13.1 assists, 6.6 steals and 2.2 blocks per game while shooting 48.3% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 72.1 points. ___ The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar .
