NIAGARA UNIVERSITY ATHLETICS
FAIRFIELD, C.T. — The Niagara women’s lacrosse team dropped a close contest to Fairfield, 13-10, on Thursday.
Game Summary
- Final Score: Fairfield 13, Niagara 10
- Offensive Leaders: Rachel MacCheyne (3G, 1A), Caroline Crump (2G), Shea Swartwout (2G)
- Defensive Leaders: Hailey D’Hont (3 GB, 1 CT), Alexandra Higgins (2 GB, 1 CT)
- In Goal: Aubrey DeVeau (14 SV, 12 GA)
- Records: Fairfield (6-4, 2-0 MAAC), Niagara (4-7, 1-1 MAAC)
- Location: Rafferty Stadium – Fairfield, Connecticut
- Attendance: 246
Game Recap
- Fairfield opened scoring, taking a 1-0 lead with 29:08 remaining in the first half, but Niagara quickly tied things up. Swartwout, assisted by MacCheyne, scored with 27:59 remaining to knot the score at 1-1. Goals from MacCheyne (25:53) and Crump (25:21) put the Purple Eagles in the lead, 3-1.
- Fairfield scored twice to tie the score again, 3-3.
- Swartwout scored her second goal of the game, assisted by Grace Hunt, at 16:32 to reclaim the lead for Niagara, 4-3.
- The Stags scored three unanswered goals in the remainder of the first half to take a 6-4 lead going into halftime.
- Fairfield scored four times in the first six and a half minutes of the second half to extend its lead, 10-4.
- With 22:18 remaining, D’Hont scored off an assist from Alexis Morales. MacCheyne then scored her second goal of the game with 20:46 left to put NU down by only four, 10-6.
- Fairfield scored once more, before three unanswered goals from MacCheyne, Jillian Ford and Samantha Brill brought NU within two scores of Fairfield, 11-9.
- The Stags added another goal with 4:29 remaining to take a 12-9 lead.
- Crump found her target with 3:35 left in the game, but the Stags scored once more and held the Purple Eagles scoreless for the remainder of the game to come away with the narrow 13-10 victory.
Coach’s Corner
- “We battled today and made plays on both ends of the field,” said head coach Wendy Stone. “Consistency is eluding us and we need to play a full 60 minutes to win games. We will look to be better next time out.”
Inside the Numbers
- MacCheyne led the Purple Eagles with three goals and also added one assist. She also had a team-best nine draw controls.
- Swartwout and Crump added two goals for the Purple Eagles.
- D’Hont led NU with three ground balls, while Alexandra Higgins and DeVeau each had two ground balls.
- D’Hont, Higgins and Hunt each had one caused turnover.
- DeVeau played almost the full 60 minutes in net and made a career-high 14 saves.
Up Next
- The Purple Eagles close out their three-game road swing on Saturday, April 7 when they take on the Manhattan Jaspers at 10:00 a.m.
