FAIRFIELD, Conn. – The Sacred Heart University men's soccer team punched its ticket to a Northeast Conference semifinal game against SFU on Thursday at 1:30 p.m. in Loretto, Pa.
 
RECORDS
#4 Sacred Heart: 6-7-4, (3-2-4 NEC)
#1 Saint Francis: 7-0-7, (5-0-3 NEC)
 
LAST TIME OUT
The Pioneers tied Merrimack Thursday at home, 1-1, advancing to the Semifinals with a 5-4 win in penalty kicks. Graduate Aidan Borra scored the lone Pioneer goal early in the 7^th minute of the game. Merrimack responded later in the first half. The game went into overtime and penalty kicks resulting in a 5-4 win for the Pioneers. Andrew Hammersley had the game winning save on the fifth Merrimack penalty kick.
 
Sacred Heart outshot Merrimack 16-13 and had eight corners to its six. The teams were evenly contested with six shots on goal and five saves.
 
THE MATCHUP
SHU faced Saint Francis earlier this season on October 22^nd, falling 2-0. Alex Almuzara led the team with five shots and one shot on goal. Olliver Persson also secured four shots and on shot on goal. Hammersley secured two saves.
 
Saint Francis's Maximus Rigby scored both goals in the top right corner of the net.
 
The Red Flash out shot SHU 11-to-10 and 4-to-2 on goal. Saint Francis and SHU were evenly contested with three corner opportunities.
 
SCOUTING SAINT FRANCIS
The undefeated Red Flash secured a bye week with their #1 seed and last played on November 2^nd with a 3-0 win against Howard.
 
Saint Francis has totaled 21 goals this season. First-year Joschi Schelb leads SFU with 13 points, tallying three goals and seven assists. Ribgy follows with eight points, three goals and two assists. Julian Jakopovic (1g, 4a), Alvaro Planas (3g) and Fabian Wagner (2g, 1a) have also played well this season. Six other players have scored goals for the team this year.
 
Two keepers have seen playing time for the Red Flash. Sophomore Jordaine Jaeger played in 14 games totaling 42 saves, 0.73 goals against average and a 0.808 save percentage.
 
SCOUTING PIONEERS
The Pios' success is due to a collective contribution of the team. Persson leads the team in goals with five. Garcia Gallego has four goals and three assists. He has seen the most offensive opportunities with 18 shots on goal. Dick has two goals and three assists. Five other Pioneers have scored a goal this season.
 
Hammersley has made his mark this season with a total of 59 saves, which ranks him third in the conference. Seven of those saves were made against Merrimack, his highest of the season. He has totaled five shutouts which puts him on the SHU leaderboard and is tied at 8^th in SHU history and ties him second in the conference. Hammersley is also second in the conference with a 1.22 goals against average. He is third in save percentage at 0.738.