LORETTO, Pa. – A seven-goal performance from two-time NEC Player of the Week Holly Lawrence was enough to pace Saint Francis (Pa.) past Longwood 13-12 Sunday afternoon, overcoming four-goal games from Longwood's Stephanie Roberts and Kaitlin Luccarelli. 

Lawrence, a senior midfielder, tickled the twine a career-best seven times to shoulder the load for the Red Flash attack. Her final two goals erased a potential game-winning goal from Riley Dolan at the 6:48 mark and took the seesaw affair for the Red Flash's first home win in 2017.

A season after scoring 37 goals, Lawrence is now at 27 tallies on the year in just her seventh game. 

"Today was a tough loss because this was a winnable game," said fifth-year head coach Elaine Jones. "We battled back yet again from being down, but ultimately, we just didn't have enough experience to hold the lead."

The Lancers and Red Flash traded blows throughout the first half before back-to-back tallies gave the Lancers a 7-5 lead with just over 5 minutes remaining in the opening period. Saint Francis (Pa.) was able to answer those strikes with two of their own to knot it 7-7 at the break.

Saint Francis (Pa.) was able to answer Luccarelli's fourth tally that broke a 7-7 tie with a three-goal run to make it 10-8, tied for the largest lead either side would see.

Longwood got contributions from all around on the offensive end with Roberts' and Luccarelli's combined eight goals, while junior Riley Dolan added four assists and freshman Lexi Davis dished out a pair in the losing effort.

With the two assists, Davis has tallied a point in each of her first eight career games for the blue and white, while Luccarelli pushed her streak to seven consecutive games with an assist or goal.

After Lawrence scored her fifth goal of the game to give the Red Flash an 11-9 lead at the 10:11 mark, Roberts scored her fourth tally to spark a Lancer 3-0 run and grab a 12-11 lead with just under seven minutes left in regulation. The quick Lancer outburst saw goals come from three different sticks in Roberts, Dolan and freshman Dana Joss, who has four goals in her past three contests.

It was Lawrence who struck again for the Red Flash, scoring her sixth and seventh goals of the day to close out the contest and hand the Lancers their third loss in the past four contests after a three-game winning stretch in late-February.

"Due to injury/illness, we were already down several starters on defense and were unable to switch up our defensive plan," Jones said. "With only one senior and two juniors on the field, basically our freshmen and sophomores were tasked with stepping up and performing on both ends. They worked hard, but it's still a learning experience for them."

Between the pipes, Longwood keeper Imani West corralled 10 saves, seven in the second half, for her third-straight double-digit save performance and fifth of the season. West is also among the best in the Big South with a .461 save percentage and 88 saves.

Roberts continued her torrid pace in a breakout sophomore campaign as she has 21 goals to lead the Lancers after scoring 11 her freshman season in 2016. She is also on a three-game points streak to go along with Joss, who has come on strong for the Lancer attack, scoring four goals over that stretch.

Lawrence led Saint Francis (Pa.) with her seven-goal day while adding two assists, four draw controls and forcing three Lancer turnovers. The only other Red Flash with multiple goals was attacker Sarah Mahon who finished the day with two.

The Red Flash were able to win the battle of shots (26-22), ground balls (22-20), turnovers (13-18) and took advantage of their free-position attempts (6-4).

"In order to take the next step, we need everyone to continue to raise their level," Jones said. "If they can do that, we will put ourselves in much better positions to win games."

Big South Freshman of the Week honoree Molly Barkman was unable to get into the points column, but she gave the offense plenty of opportunities with a career-best nine draw controls while picking up three ground balls.

On the defensive end, senior Madelynn Rollins forced a team-high five turnovers and corralled a team-best three ground balls, and won a draw control. West also picked up a team-best three ground balls from her position in the net.

After Sunday's offensive outburst, Longwood now has six players with double figures in points - Roberts, Davis, Luccarelli, Barkman,  Cassie Angeles and Davis - five of those contributing double figure goal tallies. Dolan and Davis lead the team in assists with 13 and 11, while Roberts has a team-leading 21 goals.

Longwood returns home to round-out the nonconference slate against Commonwealth-foe George Mason. The Lancers are 3-0 at the friendly confines of Elizabeth Burger Jackson Field, outscoring opponents by a 16-6 margin.

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