NIAGARA UNIV. — The Niagara Purple Eagles lacrosse team kicked off the 2017 season in commanding fashion, routing the St. Bonaventure Bonnies 18-5 Monday afternoon at Niagara Field. Niagara scored its most goals since an 18-12 win over Manhattan on Apr. 18, 2015, and had its largest margin of victory since a 23-5 win over Howard back on March 8, 2009.
NIAGARA UNIV., N.Y. – The Niagara Purple Eagles lacrosse team kicked off the 2017 season in commanding fashion, routing the St. Bonaventure Bonnies 18-5 Monday afternoon at Niagara Field. Niagara scored its most goals since an 18-12 win over Manhattan on Apr. 18, 2015, and had its largest margin of victory since a 23-5 win over Howard back on March 8, 2009.
Nine different players scored a goal for the Purple Eagles, with Alexis Morales (five) and Rachel MacCheyne (four) leading the way. Grace Hunt led all scorers with two goals and four assists. Defensively, Niagara scooped 26 ground balls, caused 18 turnovers, and won 16 of 24 draws. Senior goaltender Andrea Francisco made seven saves while allowing just four goals in 53:10 between the pipes.
St. Bonaventure opened the game with a 2-1 lead as the Purple Eagles and Bonnies traded free-position goals through the first five minutes. Alexis Morales then scored a pair of free-position tallies to give Niagara the advantage for good, leading 3-2 with 19:20 left in the first period. Morales’ pair sparked an 8-0 run for Niagara over a span of 21 minutes in the middle of the first half. Rachel MacCheyne scored a pair of goals to make it 5-2 at the 12:05 mark before Samantha Brill and Hannah Vause each picked up their first goals of the season. Grace Hunt set up MacCheyne for her third of the afternoon with 3:47 left until halftime, and MacCheyne returned the favor off the ensuing draw, finding Hunt for Niagara’s ninth goal just 15 seconds later. The Bonnies’ Rachel Perla made it 9-3 before Hailey D’Hont fed Alexis Morales for her third goal of the first half. After allowing goals on her first two shots faced from the 8-meter line, goalkeeper Andrea Francisco made five saves, including a pair of free-position stops, throughout the first half.
The Purple Eagles limited the Bonnies to just two goals after halftime while racking up eight more of their own. Hunt and D’Hont scored in the first 10 minutes of the half before Madison Appel responded for St. Bonaventure, making it a 12-4 game. Niagara went 15 minutes without giving up a goal from that point, adding five more tallies from five different scorers in MacCheyne, Morales, Alexandra Leo, Jillian Ford, and Audrey Fithall. Perla added her second of the game off a free-position with 2:26 to play, but Morales scored her fifth goal of the afternoon as time expired, giving Niagara a 13-goal victory by a score of 18-5.
The Purple Eagles return to Niagara Field on Feb. 28 to host the Colgate Raiders in a 3 p.m. matchup.
from PurpleEagles.com via IFTTT
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