LOUDONVILLE, NY – With 1:48 on the clock in the second overtime period, fifth year and team captain Annie Brennan drove and sniped the top right corner of the net to send the Siena Women's Lacrosse team home with a season-opening 6-5 win over the Canisius Golden Griffins on Saturday afternoon.
 
Brennan's goal would be her only point of the day, as the Saints got just one point apiece from Brennan, Kerry Gerety, Hayley Kmack, Kaitlyn Dowsett, an Mary Soures. It would be senior Nicole McNeely who finished with double-digit points, tossing in the opening two goals of the season via a free position shot. McNeely also snagged four draw controls, while Gerety added five as the duo combined for nine of the 10 free position victories. Senior goaltender Ally Mervine made a total of 12 saves in the 66 minutes of action.w
 
Canisius was led by freshman Riley Davis, as she scored a trio of points in her collegiate debut with three goals. Marissa Malvaso and Miranda Malvaso each scored a goal and assist apiece as well for the Golden Griffs. 
 
McNeely opened the scoring for the game with a pair of goals at the 21:35 mark and 15:30 mark as she gave Siena the early 2-0 lead thanks to free position opportunities. The Griffs answered back with 8L53 to play in the half as Davis scored her first collegiate goal to pull Canisius back within one. The game played defensively throughout the whole first half, as Mervine made seven saves in net in the first 30 minutes.
 
With just a 2-1 lead heading into the second half, the Saints surrendered a goal less than eight minutes in to pull things even at 2-2. Both sides would trade jabs from there until the Saints got an extra lift from Dowsett, as her goal at the 7:37 mark left in the game gave Siena a 5-3 lead. But just over two minutes later, Davis struck once again for Canisius to pull things back within a goal.
 
With the clock winding down, a Siena penalty assessed to Brennan with seven seconds remaining gave Canisius a chance at the net outside of the fan. It took only five seconds for Davis to complete her hat trick, as she found space and scored to even things at 5-5 with only two seconds remaining in regulation. After both teams played a quiet first OT period, Brennan would avenge the penalty with her goal to win it with just 1:48 to play on the clock.
 
Siena would outshoot the Golden Griffins by a 27-21 margin, including a 15-10 clip in the second half. However, the Saints committed 25 total turnovers to Canisius' 16. The Green and Gold also won the battle on the draw controls, topping the Golden Griffins 10-4 for the game.
 
The Saints return to action tomorrow, Sunday, Mar. 7 when they finish up their weekend series with the Canisius Golden Griffins. The opening draw will get things started at 12 PM.