Loretto, Pa. – The Le Moyne women's soccer team suffered a 1-0 loss at Saint Francis University on Sunday afternoon in Northeast Conference action.

The Red Flash scored the game's lone goal in the 69^th minute when junior midfielder/forward Lauren Pyle hit the back of the net for the second time this season.

The Dolphins nearly found the equalizing goal in the 87^th minute when Sierra Edwards' shot was blocked in front of the goal line by a Saint Francis defender.

"I'm proud of the team for how they competed from the beginning to the end of the game. We never question the work rate in our program and coming off the field today we felt the same way, that the players left everything they had on the field." said Le Moyne head coach Jaro Zawislan. "The execution in the first half, we needed to improve that, especially in the final third. It was a good response from the team after giving up the goal in the second half. We were able to create quality chances. We felt that we did enough to get something out of this game, at least a tie. We'll take the positives out of this game and we'll continue to build on them during this week's preparation for our next game at Central Connecticut State."

Le Moyne has three conference games remaining on its regular season schedule, and will return to action on October 15 with a 2:00 p.m. match at Central Connecticut State University.

A little over 10 minutes into the match, senior defender/midfielder Jenicah Brown (Cortland, N.Y./Cortland/Cazanovia) drew a free kick in the right side of Le Moyne's attacking third. Sophomore defender Jasmina Barhoumi (Worms, Germany/Nelly-Sachs-IGS/D'Youville) ripped a shot towards the upper right portion of the goal off the set piece, but the ball was caught by SFU senior goalkeeper Sarah McConnon.

Le Moyne graduate goalkeeper Allison Moreau (Sauquoit, N.Y./Sauquoit Valley), who finished the match with five saves, made a diving save to her right in the 30^th minute after a through ball was played into the right side of the Le Moyne penalty area for junior midfielder/forward Rita Kendziora, who placed her right-footed shot across the face of the goal towards the left post.

The score remained tied 0-0 after 45 minutes of play.

In the 49^th minute, SFU's Claire Miko received a pass in the left side of the Le Moyne penalty area, and sent a pass to her right towards the top of the six-yard box for Kendziora, but Moreau reacted quickly, stepped up and dove on the ball just before Kendziora could get a touch on it.

In the 59^th minute, Le Moyne freshman midfielder Giovanna Vigliotti (Camillus, N.Y./West Genesee) made a move past her defender on the left wing and earned a corner kick for the Dolphins.

Barhoumi sent a right-footed cross from the left flag into the middle of the SFU penalty area, and redshirt-junior defender Danielle Casey (Clifton Park, N.Y./Shenendehowa) put a header on goal, but it was caught by McConnon.

With a little under 22 minutes remaining in the second half, SFU junior midfielder/forward Lauren Pyle hit a long right-footed shot from the middle of the field that carried towards goal and flew in just below the crossbar to give the Red Flash a 1-0 lead.

With five minutes remaining in the match, Casey received a throw on the left wing near the endline and won a corner kick for the Dolphins.

Barhoumi took the kick from the left flag and sent a cross towards the penalty spot, where Casey headed the ball towards the goal, but once again her shot was saved McConnon.

In the 87^th minute, Casey made a move past an SFU defender across midfield, carried the ball towards Le Moyne's attacking third then sent a pass out to the left wing for junior forward Sierra Edwards (Greece, N.Y./Hilton/Monroe).

Edwards took a touch into the left side of the Saint Francis penalty area, then cut back to her right to evade a defender. She took another touch then hit a right-footed shot towards the right side of the goal that got past the diving goalkeeper, but was blocked in front of the goal line by a retreating SFU defender.

The Dolphins retained possession in their final third, but the Red Flash eventually cleared the ball away from danger to end the threat.

In the final minute, Vigliotti received a pass from Edwards outside the SFU 18-yard box and ripped a right-footed shot that went wide of the right post.

Sunday marks the third time this season that Dolphins have dropped a conference match by a score of 1-0.

Le Moyne (2-10-3, 1-5-1 NEC) currently has four points in the NEC Standings with a 1-0 win at home over Stonehill (Sep 21) and a 0-0 draw at Delaware State (Sep 28).

Following next Sunday's match at CCSU, Le Moyne will return to Ted Grant Field for its final home game on October 22 against FDU.

The Dolphins will conclude the regular season on October 26 at Sacred Heart.

CCSU and Merrimack currently sit at the top of the NEC Standings with 16 and 15 points, respectively, while Howard is close behind with 13 points, and FDU occupies fourth place with 12 points.

Wagner and Saint Francis U are tied for fifth place in the standings with nine points each.