CANISIUS COLLEGE ATHLETICS
The
Canisius women’s lacrosse program outscored the Marist Red Foxes 10-5 in
the second half en-route to a 13-11 MAAC semifinal victory in
Poughkeepsie, N.Y., Thursday night. With the win, the fourth-seeded
Golden Griffins advance to the MAAC Women’s Lacrosse Championship game,
where the team will face Fairfield. The win moved Canisius to 11-8 on
the season.
The Red Foxes appeared to be in control through the first half, taking a
6-3 lead into the intermission, forcing 13 Canisius turnovers and
smothering the Blue and Gold attack.
However, the Griffs’ offense came alive in the second frame, as
three-straight goals from the 23 minute mark on, helped knot the contest
up at 8-8. Marist retook the lead a possession later, but again the
Griffs responded, as junior Jourdan Roemer and sophomore Bryar Cummings recorded back-to-back goals to put Canisius up 10-9 with 14:57 left in the game.
With the game tied at 11-11 with 5:20 left in regulation time, Cummings
notched her fourth of the contest to give the Griffs a lead they never
relinquished. Senior Jen Reininger added an insurance marker with 3:26 left to help secure the victory.
Cummings had a career-high five points (four goals and one assist), while senior Allie Stewart notched four goals. Roemer also added a pair of goals and a pair of assists, while freshmen Miranda Malvaso and Marissa Malvaso each tallied a goal in the winning effort.
Reininger finished the game with a goal and an assist, while collecting
four ground balls, four draw controls and four caused turnovers.
For Marist, Kelly George posted five assists, while Morgan Jaycox and Hailey Wagner also earned multi-point performances.
Canisius struggled holding onto the ball in the first half, committing
13 turnovers, however the Blue and Gold cleaned its play up in the
second frame, and turned the ball over just three times in the game’s
closing 30 minutes. Meanwhile, Canisius turned up the defensive pressure
on Marist, forcing the host Red Foxes into seven second-half turnovers.
Senior goalkeeper Rebecca VanLaeken
made six saves between the pipes for the Griffs to earn the victory,
while Marist’s Delaney Galvin was credited with 10 stops in the losing
effort. For the game, Canisius outshot Marist by a 31-27 clip, while
holding a 23-17 advantage in shots on goal.
Coach Allison Daley‘s Postgame Comments
“I give all the credit to our players. It’s obviously an emotional time
and I’m overjoyed that they can have this moment. We were able to battle
back and rely on our past experiences to be able to get this done.”
GAME NOTES
• Canisius is now 15-1 in the MAAC Championship since 2011.
• The Griffs’ win moves the team to the MAAC Championship game for the eighth-straight year.
• This was the 29th meeting in series history, where Marist holds a 16-13 advantage.
• The Blue and Gold are now 5-3 all-time in the MAAC Championship tournament against the Red Foxes.
•
Thursday marked the first time a No. 4 seed has upset a No. 1 seed in
the MAAC Women’s Lacrosse Championship since 2003 when former MAAC
member Le Moyne upset Fairfield. The only other occasion where the
four-seed beat the top-seed in the semifinals was 2000, when Niagara
beat Marist.
• Cummings recorded a career-high four goals in the win.
• Reininger is now just one goal away from notching 100 for her career.
UP NEXT
Canisius will play for a MAAC Championship and the league’s automatic
berth into the NCAA Division I Women’s Lacrosse Championship when the
team battles No. 3 seed Fairfield Saturday at 1 p.m., in Poughkeepsie,
N.Y. The game will be broadcast live on MAAC.tv
