By: Hunter Lobur Cummins
Canisius women’s lacrosse was able to thwart a late Siena rally to earn its eighth win of the season on Wednesday afternoon. The Griffs got out to a sizable ten goal lead at one point, but had to hold on to take the game 14–10.
In the first period, the team received goals from Riley Davis, Skylar McArthur, Megan Hoffman, and Kaitlyn Salce. This strong offensive performance allowed the Griffs to dominate play and jump out to a 4–1 lead.
The second quarter saw the lead balloon to seven as three goals from Paige Stachura and two goals from McArthur brought the lead all the way to 9–2 by halftime. The team was as in sync as it has been at any point during the season so far.
The third period was headlined by Katie Smolensky’s SportsCenter Top-Ten worthy over-the-shoulder goal for Canisius. The highlight reel play came in at number seven on the night for ESPN. It was also Smolensky’s 20th goal of the season.
McArthur notched her 30th goal of the year as well in this quarter, while Davis added another man up goal for the Griffs.
While the Griffs were able to hit some milestones and provide some exciting content in this frame, the Saints would not go away, as they were able to fight all the way back to cut the lead to 12–8.
Despite a four-goal lead, the team needed some added insurance due to a poor third stanza in which the team allowed six goals against. Two more goals from McArthur would prove to be enough as the team was able to keep the Saints at bay, and move to 3–1 in conference play this season.
McArthur had an incredible game as she finished with an impressive six goals on the day. Siena scored four more times, but it was too little too late.
The win improved Canisius’s record to 8–3 on the season, while the loss for Siena dropped its record below .500 to 6–7. The Griffs now find themselves in third place in the MAAC, while Siena sits in sixth.
Next up for the Griffs is a showdown against the Monmouth Hawks in West Long Branch, N.J. on Saturday at 12 p.m. It will be the first away contest for Canisius since March 26. With four games remaining for Canisius and all of them being conference showdowns, it will be important to collect as many wins as possible down the stretch for the purpose of earning the best possible seed once MAAC tournament time comes calling.