No. 1 Canisius Meets No. 2 Fairfield in 2017 MAAC Women's Lacrosse Championship Game
MAAC Sports
BUFFALO, NY – No. 1 Canisius College (14-4, 8-0 MAAC) and No. 2 Fairfield University (11-5, 7-1 MAAC) go head-to-head in the 2017 MAAC Women's Lacrosse Championship game on Sunday, May 7 at 12:00 p.m. The Championship final takes place at the Demske Sports Complex on the campus of Canisius College and can be streamed live on ESPN3.
The Griffs are set to play in their seventh consecutive MAAC Women's Lacrosse Championship game, which dates to 2011. They have won five out of the last six MAAC Championship games (2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2016). Canisius' five MAAC Championships are the most in the league's history.
Canisius defeated No. 4 Niagara University, 16-6, in the semifinals on Friday, May 5. The Griffs led the game wire-to-wire after scoring the game's first goal just 1:27 into the contest. A total of six Griffs scored multiple goals en route to the semifinal victory.
2017 MAAC Midfielder of the Year, junior Erica Evans tallied a game-high six points (four goals, two assists). She added six ground balls, four caused turnovers, and two draw controls. With her first assist of the day, Evans broke the MAAC single-season record for points, which she previously set last season with 91. The junior currently has 97 points on the year.
Fairfield has captured three MAAC Championships in program history, with its last coming in 2015 (defeated Canisius, 9-7). The Stags will appear in their eighth Championship final tomorrow afternoon, the most in MAAC history (Canisius and Marist College are tied for second with seven appearances each). Fairfield defeated No. 1 Canisius in 2015 as the No. 2 seed at the Demske Sports Complex, the scene of tomorrow's matchup.
The Stags defeated No. 3 Marist College, 15-8, in their semifinal matchup to advance to the finals. The game was scoreless until the 18:28 mark in the first half when 2017 MAAC Offensive Player of the Year, senior Riley Hellstein buried her first of four goals on the afternoon. The senior registered a game-high six points (four goals, two assists) in the victory.
Canisius and Fairfield met once in the regular season with the Griffs coming out victorious, 15-10, on April 22. Canisius received a four-goal performance from 2017 All-MAAC Second Team selection Jourdan Roemer. Stags' All-MAAC First Teamer, junior Alex Fehmel recorded a hat trick, four ground balls, four caused turnovers, and three draw controls in the lone regular season meeting.
The Griffs lead the league in goals (282), goals per game (15.67), assists (128), assists per game (7.11), points (410), points per game (22.78), shot percentage (.526), and shots on goal (420). The Stags are atop the conference in ground balls per game (20.81), shots per game (30.12), caused turnovers per game (10.75), goals against (141), and goals against average (8.77).
For all information on the 2017 MAAC Women's Lacrosse Championship, visit maacsports.com/womenslax and be sure to follow the action on social media by using #MAACLAX.
Tickets can be purchased for the MAAC Women's Lacrosse Championship by visiting maac.ticketleap.com.