NIAGARA UNIV. — The Niagara Purple Eagles women’s lacrosse team and the Colgate Raiders battled back and forth in a hard-fought matchup Tuesday afternoon at Niagara Field. After the Purple Eagles closed the first period on a 5-1 run, Colgate used a 6-0 run of their own in the second period to take a late 10-8 lead. Niagara came back to tie the game at ten, but Colgate scored the eventual game-winner with 4:20 to play, sending the Purple Eagles to an 11-10 loss at Niagara Field.
Colgate opened the game with a 2-0 lead five minutes in on a pair of goals from Isabel Kreitler. Alexis Morales scored Niagara’s first goal of the game at the 24:09 mark, but the Raiders held Niagara scoreless for the next 11 minutes. A free-position goal from Kreitler at the 13:57 mark made it 3-1 Raiders, but Rachel MacCheyne responded with her first of the afternoon 54 seconds later, making it a one-goal game again. MacCheyne’s goal sparked a 5-1 run for Niagara to close the first period. Audrey Fithall set up Morales for her second of the game with 11:13 to go to halftime, and Samantha Brill set up Caroline Crump 52 seconds later to make it a 4-3 Purple Eagles advantage. Lindsay West tied the game for Colgate late in the first period, but Niagara scored the final two goals before halftime. After Morales scored her third goal on a free-position shot, Kara Martin intercepted a pass from Colgate goalkeeper Asil Asfour, drove for the open net, and scored her first career goal to make it 6-4 at the half.
After both teams were held scoreless the opening four minutes of the second period, Morales and Crump scored goals 22 seconds apart, giving Niagara their largest lead of the game at 8-4 with 25:12 to play. Following Crump’s goal, however, the Raiders held the Purple Eagles off the scoreboard and rattled off a 6-0 run over a span of more than 15 minutes. Kreitler, Natalie Washuta, and Payton Gabriel all scored twice in the run for Colgate. Niagara’s Grace Hunt set up MacCheyne to end the Colgate run with 9:56 to play, and Crump set up Hunt for the tying goal just 1:11 later to make it 10-10. That was all the Raiders would allow, and Kreitler set up teammate Haley O’Hanlon for the game-winner with 4:20 to play.
Niagara heads south on a three-game road trip over the next week, starting Saturday, March 4 with an 11 a.m. contest at Mount St. Mary’s. The Purple Eagles then head to Florida, facing the Jacksonville Dolphins at 3 p.m. on March 8 and the Stetson Hatters at 4 p.m. on March 10.
from PurpleEagles.com via IFTTT
