By: Hunter Lobur Cummins
In yet another edition of the Battle of the Bridge, Canisius women’s lacrosse was unable to pull out a victory as they lost a competitive one goal game to the Niagara Purple Eagles, 13–12 on Wednesday.
It was an even first period, with both teams finding the back of the net twice. Katie Smolensky and Riley Davis both struck for Canisius to make sure the score was level.
The second quarter saw a barrage of goals for each side, with Canisius taking a 9–5 lead heading into halftime. Skylar McArthur, Caroline Netti and Paige Stachura each offered two goals of their own, while Smolensky added another to pad the Griffs lead heading into the break. Smolensky contributed two assists during this frame as well.
As the third quarter began, Niagara began to inch back into the game. The Purple Eagles outscored Canisius 4–2 in this stanza to close the deficit to two, making it an 11–9 game for the Griffs. Davis and McArthur were the goal scorers for Canisius in the third, and the team hoped to hold Niagara at bay for one more frame to take home a big win.
Unfortunately, the momentum built by the Purple Eagles was significant.
In the fourth and final period, Niagara once again outscored the Griffs, this time by a 4–1 margin to secure the tightly fought victory in the rivalry series. Netti scored her 25th goal of the season, but it was just not enough. The loss dropped the Griffs to 6–3 on the year, while it improved Niagara to 6–4.
Next up for Canisius is an early 11 a.m. matchup vs the Iona Gaels on Saturday at the Demske Sports Complex. It will be another opportunity for the Griffs to pick up a MAAC win, which are incredibly valuable when looking at the big picture of the season. It is the second of three straight home games for Canisius, and the team will need to get a win to kickstart another streak that it saw more often in the early portion of this season.