By: Hunter Lobur Cummins
In the team’s first game in 12 days, the Canisius women’s lacrosse program lost a high scoring affair to the Albany Great Danes 20-15 at the Demske Sports Complex on Wednesday afternoon March 15.
The Griffins quickly fell behind in the first period of play as Albany opened the game by scoring six unanswered goals. Sarah Falk and Katie Pascale each recorded two of their goals on the day in this quarter, while Pascale also contributed two assists.
The second quarter saw a scoring frenzy unfold, 13 goals combined between the two teams were netted, as Canisius finally got on the scoreboard with Skylar McArthur’s ninth tally of the season, cutting the Great Dane lead down to 8-1. Two goals from Megan Hoffman, one from Caroline Netti, Kaitlyn Salce, and another from McArthur had the Griffs totaling six goals at halftime, though the deficit grew to seven as Albany had 13 of its own when the whistle sounded to end the first half of play.
In the third period, each team capitalized four times. Netti added two more for Canisius, while Hoffman scored another and Riley Davis entered the scoresheet with a goal on a man up situation. Still, the Griffs could not contain the Great Dane offensive attack, as they got no closer in margin as the fourth and final quarter appeared.
The Golden Griffins did win the last period of play, but it was not enough to take control of the game. Netti offered two more goals, and Davis, Hoffman, and Paige Stachura each scored to make the final score 20-15. The Griffs will be able to build off of Hoffman’s strike, as it was a buzzer beater that just found the back of the net before the clock expired. This loss brings the Griffins’ record to 4-2 overall on the season, and improved Albany to 2-4.
Canisius will look to shore up its defensive strategies before it takes on the Youngstown State Penguins this Saturday, March 19 at 1 p.m. in Ohio. That will be the last non-conference matchup for the Griffs as the team will then return to Buffalo to host three straight games to open up MAAC play.