JOLIET, Ill. --- Newcomer Mia Perri kick-started the University of St. Francis women's soccer season with a goal just under 11 minutes into the campaign, but the Fighting Saints yielded the equalizer with just over five minutes left to play in the first period in settling for a 1-1 tie with Rochester Christian University (Mich.) on Friday night at Joliet Memorial Stadium.  Lightning forced the contest to be halted 1-minute, 21-seconds short of its full 90 minutes. 

Recap
The Saints (0-0-1) and Warriors (0-0-2) played an even match with both squads registering 15 shots apiece.  St. Francis held the advantage with six shots on goal compared to RCU's three, while the Warriors edged the Saints in corner kicks, 2-1.
 
USF created a lot of scoring opportunities on an evening that started sunny, but ended in a heavy downpour on Busey Bank Field.  St. Francis forced RCU keeper Sabrina Kiryakoza to make five saves, while Krystal Rodriguez stopped two shots for the Fighting Saints.
 
Kelly Flores topped the Saints with five shots, while Ariadne Gonzalez added four of her own.  Perri only needed one try to secure her first goal of the season, blasting her first shot of the season past Kiryakoza in the 10th minute of play.

First Half
St. Francis generated the first dangerous scoring opportunity quickly as Gonzalez found an opening to shoot, but saw her attempt stopped by a diving Kiryakoza in the first minute of action.  It would take nine more minutes for the Saints to draw another opening, but they came up short again with Alexis Marroquin's shot being saved by the RCU keeper.  The Saints stayed consistent on their attack, however, and just one minute later, Perri would author USF's first goal of the season, assisted by Gonzalez, to give the Saints the 1-0 lead.

Rochester Christian did not record a shot for the first 24 minutes of the match, but would collect four between the 24- and 33-minute marks.  RCU forward Nicole Wrobel connected on RCU's fifth shot attempt at 39:48 to even the score.  The Saints created one more scoring chance in hopes of adding to their first-half total, but settled for a first period showing of 1-1.

Second Half
The second half began by showcasing a similar story as the first 45 minutes with the Saints registering four shots compared to Rochester's six in the first 22 minutes of play.  The play of the night came at the 66:08 mark as Gonzalez blasted a hard shot towards the upper crossbar.  Kiryakoza, however, was able to make a dramatic stop by deflecting the shot with her outstretched fingertips to keep the score notched at one apiece.  The play resulted in a corner kick that the Saints hoped to capitalize on, but a header off Gonzalez sailed wide right of the net.  The Warriors followed the threat by looking to take the lead with four consecutive shots, but Rodriguez was able to record her two saves of the match in the 78th and 81st minutes to squelch the attack.

Ominous weather became a reality in the 82nd minute as dark skies turned into heavy rain.  Play continued with St. Francis authoring four shots in four minutes, but conditions soon became too dangerous with the referees halting the contest with 1:21 remaining on the clock.  After a 20-minute delay of unrelenting weather, the game was officially declared completed with a final score of 1-1.

Game Notes

• St. Francis led the match with six shots on goal, while Rochester Christian had three
• Flores took the most shots on the day for the Saints with five
• Perri, a graduate transfer, scored in her first shot attempt as a Saint to record USF's first goal of the season
• Friday's contest was just the second time the two teams have faced off, previously meeting in 2023 with Rochester Christian winning 2-0

Next Game
The USF women's soccer team will have nine days of rest before taking the field again on August 25 to play against University of Saint Francis (Ind.) at 6:00 pm EST at John M. D'Aarcy Stadium in Fort Wayne, Ind.

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