March 29, 2009

Box Score

LOUDONVILLE, N.Y. - Siena women's lacrosse outshot Niagara 54-25 but couldn't figure out Whitney Gill who made 24 saves as the Purple Eagles defeated the Saints 16-12 Sunday afternoon at Siena Turf Field. Lindsey Rosecrans led Siena with four goals in the loss.

Niagara (4-6, 1-0) took control of the game from the start. They scored less than a minute into the game with Courtney Formato's first goal of the game and opened up a 5-1 lead in the first 12 minutes. The Purple Eagles scored on their first seven shots on goal.

Siena (6-4, 0-3) had plenty of opportunities throughout the game. They took 24 shots in the first half and 30 in the second half. But Gill stopped 12 shots in each half and Siena missed the cage on 18 attempts. The Saints were 0-for-11 on free position shots. Deirdre McQuillan scored at the 12:06 mark to cut it to 6-3, but Niagara scored three consecutive goals in the next six minutes to pull ahead 9-3. Ryan Tierney scored her first goal of the game with 36 second left in the first half to make it 9-4 at intermission.

Niagara came out strong again, scoring the first three goals of the second half and building a 12-4 lead with 20 minutes to go. The Saints went on a run with less than 15 minutes left in the game. Caitlin Mikel tallied her second goal of the game at the 14:39 mark, Courtney Highsmith scored two goals in a 12-second span and Rosecrans capped it off at the 8:14 mark to make it 15-10. But Niagara held on to win 16-12 and handed Siena its third MAAC loss in five days.

Formato led the Purple Eagles with five goals on five shots. Leigh Downing and Caitlin Sacco both scored three goals on three shots each.

Siena returns to action next Sunday when they host Fairfield at Siena Turf Field at 1 p.m. Seniors Lindsey Rosecrans, Ryan Tierney and Courtney Highsmith will be honored in a pre-game ceremony.