NIAGARA UNIVERSITY ATHLETICS
NIAGARA FALLS, N.Y. — The Niagara women’s lacrosse team fell to Canisius, 15-10, at home on Wednesday night to sew up the fifth seed in the upcoming MAAC Tournament.
Canisius, Fairfield, Marist, Monmouth and Niagara started the day with identical 5-2 conference records, meaning Niagara could have ended up in any of the top five slots for the playoffs. Wins throughout the day by Monmouth, Marist and Fairfield meant a Purple Eagles win would give them a first-round bye as the second seed or ensure a visit to Canisius’ campus as the visiting fifth seed this weekend.
Game Summary
Final Score: Canisius Golden Griffins 15, Niagara Purple Eagles 10
Offensive Leaders: Caroline Crump (3 G, 1 A), Rachel MacCheyne (1 G, 2 A)
Defensive Leaders: Alexandra Higgins (6 DC, 4 CT, 3 GB), Caroline Crump (4 GB, 2 CT)
Records: Niagara (8-9, 5-3 MAAC), Canisius (9-8, 6-2 MAAC)
Location: Niagara Field
Attendance: 550
Game Recap
Canisius opened the scoring 3:38 into the game and went up 2-0 before Caroline Crump put Niagara on the board 7:35 in.
Crump leveled the score 15 seconds later, after Rachel MacCheyne raced down the right sideline on the draw control and found Crump near the crease.
After Canisius regained the lead 3-2 on a free position, Hailey D’Hont tied it up again at 3-3.
More than seven minutes of play elapsed before the deadlock was broken by the Golden Griffins, but 94 seconds later D’Hont potted her second of the game to tie the game once more.
With 8:10 remaining, Canisius regained the lead for the fourth time in the game. They proceeded to add three more before halftime, when the score stood at 8-4.
Coming out of the break, MacCheyne opened the scoring with 1:42 elapsed to cut the deficit to 8-5.
Canisius scored the next two goals to push the score to 10-5, but 7:03 later, Alexis Morales ended the scoring drought by snaring a rebound from a MacCheyne free position and netting it with a shot directly over the Canisius goalie.
Shea Swartwout’s tally with 15:29 left brought the score to 12-7 in favor of Canisius.
MacCheyne located Crump on a sprint towards the net and Crump finished the play with 10:26 remaining in the game to set the score at 13-8.
Mackenzie Molodetz ripped a shot home with 68 seconds left in the second half to make it 15-9, and Grace Hunt found the back of the net with 16 seconds to go for the final tally of the night.
Coach’s Corner
“Today was not our day. We did not win 50-50s early in the game, and struggled to finish plays on the offensive end. We will look to improve as we face Canisius again on Saturday in the playoffs.” – head coach Wendy Stone
Inside The Numbers
Rachel MacCheyne and Caroline Crump finished with eight shots each. Crump had six on target, while MacCheyne put five on net.
MacCheyne’s two assists made her the team regular-season leader in all three scoring categories (54 G, 19 A, 73 P).
Up Next
Niagara will open up the MAAC Tournament as the fifth seed. The game will be played against Canisius at Demske Sports Complex on Saturday, April 28 or Sunday, April 29 with exact times still to be determined.
