Siena Women's Lacrosse shook off a slow start to score eight of nine goals about midway through the game and the Saints' defense held American without a score in the third quarter to pull away for a 13-9 road win at the William I. Jacobs Recreational Complex in Washington, D.C. on Saturday afternoon.
It was a banner day for several Saints as junior
Meghan Decker tied a career-high with four points (three goals, one assist), fellow junior
Grace Dobrzynski went over the 100 career assists mark and senior
Rebecca Gilhooley notched a season-high four points.
It was the most points that Decker had scored in a single game since her debut as a freshman on Feb. 12, 2022 at New Hampshire.
Siena (5-3) held a 27-18 shots advantage including 21-14 in shots on goals on their way to a third consecutive win and fourth win in five games.
In each of those wins, the Saints have allowed single-digit scoring from their opponents.
The Saints have now concluded the non-conference portion of its schedule and will host Rider (6-2) this Saturday, March 23 at noon from Hickey Field in the MAAC season opener for the first of nine conference match ups.
Siena had to rally after falling behind 3-0 in the opening minutes on two scores from Becca Frank and another from Kellie Linehan.
The Saints answered back with three straight goals of their own on a pair from Decker and another from Gilhooley to knot it at 3.
After the Eagles' Alyssa Apuzzo scored, the Saints fired back by scoring eight of the next nine goals.
Among them were two scores from Gilhooley and
Taryn Asselin and one each from
Olivia Nicholson,
Sarah Irish,
Jordan Bentley and
Kylie Kuhn.
On defense, Siena played its best during the middle two quarters, allowing just one goal between the second and third quarters.
Sabrina Krasner made five saves between the pipes while the Saints' defense was credited with causing nine of the Eagles' 17 turnovers on the afternoon.
It was the first time these teams had met on the women's lacrosse field.
American dropped to 4-5 on the season.
