Senior celebrations bring playoff implications

By Andrew Nowel, Sports Layout Editor

Women’s soccer returns to the Demske Sports Complex on Saturday to host the Saint Peter's Peacocks in their final home game of the season. The class of 2026 will be celebrated as Mia Iacona, Lizzy Harkness, Skylar Cornell and Emily Brewer take the field for the final time at the Demske. With celebrations in mind, the Griffs are still fighting for a trip to the postseason.

Head Coach Ryan Louis has seen this group of seniors grow from the freshmen he recruited into leaders of today. “If you look at what the seniors have done, most of them have played big minutes since their freshman year,” explained Coach Louis, “Emily has been injured, but all of them are players and people, I’m really grateful they chose Canisius because they helped put the program in a better place.”

As Iacona looks back on her four years at Canisius, she recognizes the ‘bittersweet’ feeling as Saturday approaches. “I’m excited to see what comes next in my life, but it will be sad to leave the team with girls I’ve played with for multiple years,” said Iacona on Wednesday, adding, however, that “there’s still time left and memories to be made.” 

Both Coach Louis and Iacona talked about the lack of consistency that the Griffs have had this season. “The consistency hasn’t been there this year,” said Coach Louis: “One minute we’ll be on a high and the next there’ll be a drastic dip, but if you look at the roster, the majority of the team doesn’t have the experience that Mia, Skylar and Lizzy do in managing games, managing emotions and managing travel.”

With two games left, Saturday against Saint Peter's and Wednesday against Niagara, the Griffs would clinch a ticket to the MAAC Tournament with wins in both matches. With the team currently sitting in sixth place, the Griffs hold the last playoff spot. Niagara would need the Griffs to lose on Saturday for their chance in the tournament, while Siena and Iona are only a point behind Canisius. 

As a player, Iacona is aware of the standings, as the team does want to know the possibilities of where or who they could play, but the focus remains on Saint Peter's. “It’s something we definitely look at because you can’t go blind into who our competition is and who we could play,” said Iacona. She continued, “As a team, we’re close with each other, so morale has always been high and we’re pumped for senior weekend.” Coach Louis added, saying, “Today’s practice was unbelievable. If we play like that, there’s no doubt we’ll win both games.”

The four seniors will take the field one final time at the Demske on Saturday, but they will forever hold memories of the field: Harkness scoring the game-winning goal at home in the MAAC Tournament last season to send the Griffs to the semifinals; Iacona scoring a goal in the semifinals, the first goal for Canisius in the semis during the Ryan Louis era; Cornell scoring one of the two goals in a win over rival Niagara to clinch home field in the MAAC Tournament for the first time ever in program history; and Brewer scoring her first collegiate goal in her third collegiate game during her freshman year. As the memories push not only the seniors, but the team to play well on Saturday, the Griffs look to finish the season on a high note and create more memories in November.

Photo Courtesy of Canisius Athletics