April 14, 2002

(Niagara University, NY) - April 14, 2002 - Drizzling rain and dreary conditions did not slow down the Purple Eagles' offensive machine on Sunday as Niagara was able to pour in 15 goals and defeat the Siena College Saints 15-7 in women's lacrosse action at Niagara Field.

The Purple Eagles showed no ill-effects from yesterday's loss to Marist, and came out of the gate flying as they jumped out to an early 5-0 lead in the first ten minutes of play. Goals by five different Niagara players gave the Purple Eagles the five-goal cushion, and all but put the game away in the early-going.

Julie Simme recorded the first Niagara goal, followed by a goal from freshman Rachel Jones only 32 seconds later to give the Purple Eagles control of the game. Ashley Grosso scored her first of three goals on the afternoon, only 1:05 after Jones' goal, and Sandra Gallegos, the Purple Eagles leading scorer recorded her 36th point of the season only 33 seconds later, at the 4:48 mark, to give Niagara the commanding lead.

Niagara would go on to score six more first-half goals and led the Saints 11-3 at the half. The second half saw both teams score four goals each, and defense was the focus of the Niagara game-plan. Freshman netminder Michelle Nucci turned in a spectacular performance, recording 14 saves on the afternoon as the Saints reeled of 20 shots in the second half.

While Nucci was taking care of the defensive end of the field, Niagara got four more goals, from four different players to put the game away. The Purple Eagles were led by Sandra Gallegos who picked up another seven points in an abbreviated 45 minutes of play to push her season point total to 42 (15-27=42). The Saints had four players with two points each to help them stay close throughout the contest. Stephanie Petrucelli tried to mount a Siena comeback in the second half as she picked up two of the Saints four goals in the half.

Niagara improves to 4-5 overall and 2-2 in the MAAC. Siena falls to 0-10. The Saints return home to face Marist on Wednesday at 4:00 p.m.

Game Summary: Shots: Niagara 29 Siena 28

Ground Balls Niagara 26 Siena 16

Caused Turnovers Niagara 6 Siena 7

Draw Controls Niagara 9 Siena 1

Turnovers Niagara 19 Siena 19

Saves Nucci (NU) 14 Dupelle (SC) 4

Scoring: (Goals) Niagara: Haefner, Grosso (3), Gallegos, Plasse, Muldoon (2), Jones, Dowd, Simme (1)

Siena: Gudgel, Estes, Petrucelli (2), Doherty (1)

Scoring: (Assists) Niagara: Gallegos (5), Grosso (3), Baker, Allisa Coomey, Plasse (1)

Siena: Doherty (1)