The women’s lacrosse team had their undefeated conference record snapped on Saturday when they fell to the Canisius Golden Griffins by a score of 19-6 in Buffalo, NY.
The story of the day came from Canisuis’ sophomore midfielder Erica Evans, who netted eight goals in the Griffins victory. In addition, Griffins senior attacker Taylor Giglio was good for six goals on the day, giving the two players over half of the offense for the visiting team.
With the win, Canisius stays at an undefeated 5-0 in the MAAC, while the Hawks drop to 5-1.
The start of the game was a little unusual for MU. When it has regularly been the Hawks setting the tone early with marks in the first few minutes, it was Canisius who had control from the get-go. The Golden Griffins came out of the gates on a 4-0 run within the first six minutes.
After MU senior attacker Michelle Gonzales’s goal made the game 4-1, the next six marks would belong to Canisius. Three of those six goals were scored by Evans and Giglio.
Down 10-1, sophomore midfielder Kate Ryan connected off a feed from senior attacker Marial Pierce, putting the Hawks down by eight. However, Giglio would answer one last time for Canisius before the half, sending a deflated MU into halftime down 11-2.
The Hawks opened up the second half in a promising way, winning three of the half’s first five points. Pierce netted two goals and freshman attacker Jenny Staines hit a marker off a Pierce assist to put the score at 13-5. However, the rest of the half would belong to the Griffins.
Within the last 15 minutes of regulation, Canisius would outscore the Hawks 6-1, including six goals in a row by the Griffins. Three of those six goals were netted by Evans, and two by Giglio. The game would conclude with Gonzales scoring at the 3:45 mark, giving Canisius the 19-6 victory.
The Golden Griffins outshot MU 32-24, and collected four more ground balls than the home team in the contest. Each team committed nine turnovers and Canisius lead in draw controls, 13-12.
The Hawks will return to play Saturday, Apr. 23 when they head to Poughkeepsie, NY to face Marist at 1 p.m. They then end the regular season with a matchup against Iona on Wednesday, Apr. 27 at 3 p.m. on Kessler Field.
MEN’S TENNIS FALLS TO QUINNIPIAC
The men’s tennis team received their first conference loss on Thursday when they fell to longtime rivals the Quinnipiac Bobcats 4-3 in Hamden, CT.
Junior Przemyslaw Filipek won both his singles and doubles matches on the day at No. 2 and No. 1, respectively, but it would not be enough for the Hawks to take home the victory.
“Credit to Quinnipiac today,” said MU head Coach Kyle Bailey. “They came out to play and it was a great battle to the end. We will learn from this match and use it to make us better.”
Other MU wins on the day included Ale Gomez Estrada at No. 3 singles and Christian Vieira at No. 4 singles. The Hawks play next on Wednesday, Apr. 20 against Marist in Poughkeepsie, NY. First serve is set to be hit at 3 p.m.
PHOTO COURTESY of Taylor Jackson
