By Andrew Crooks, Contributor
Canisius lost 1–0 to Rider on Sunday, eliminating the Golden Griffins from the playoffs.
The Golden Griffins outshot the Broncs 22–6 on the day but could not cash in on any opportunities. The lone goal of the game came for Rider in the 20th minute on a header that Canisius goalie Jordan Spencer never had a chance to save. Junior Emma Oliphant led the way for Canisius with eight shots on the night, with one shot on goal. Senior Sophie Chelini, sophomore Skylar Cornell and freshman Nicki Silverman also recorded one shot each. The Griffs pressured the Broncs for the entirety of the second half, forcing the Rider goaltender to make several diving saves, and even registered a shot that rang off the post.
“No one really expected that outcome on Sunday. We were all kind of in shock after having the regular season we did,” said junior Sophia Konstantinou.
Despite the unsuccessful outcome on Sunday for the Golden Griffins, it was still a successful season. In the past decade of women’s soccer at Canisius University, their nine wins are the most they've recorded in a single season. They also finished with their best conference record of the past decade at 6–2–2.
On the team’s success, Konstantinou cited, “the connectivity we have as a group, and that absolutely had a lot to do with our success. I think the thing we altered was our team culture. We’ve worked to change the culture to become sisters.”
The team didn’t finish the season empty-handed, with seven Griffs being named to the All-MAAC Team. The group led by Oliphant on the All-MAAC First Team, while Cornell and Spencer joined sophomore Meghan Heath and freshman Jessica Whitaker on the All-MAAC Second Team. Chelini and sophomore Lizzy Harkness were recognized on the All-MAAC Third Team. Also, 13 members of the team were recognized as MAAC All-Academic Team members for this past season.