Women's Lacrosse

Third Quarter Rallies Send Siena and Mount St. Mary’s into MAAC Women’s Lacrosse Championship Semifinal Round

EDISON, NJ (Apr. 28, 2024) – No. 3 Siena College and No. 5 Mount St. Mary’s University used dominating third quarters in their respective opening round games of the 2024 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) Women’s Lacrosse Championship on Sunday afternoon. The Saints knocked-off No. 6 Canisius University 9-6 and the Mountaineers topped No. 4 Iona University 17-13.
 
No. 3 Siena – 9 | No. 6 Canisius – 6
Hickey Field | LOUDONVILLE, NY
Box Score
 
No. 3 Siena (13-5) defeated No. 6 Canisius (11-7), 9-6 at home on Hickey Field Sunday afternoon. After a deadlock 3-3 score at the half, the Saints outscored the Golden Griffins 5-2 in the third period, which featured a 5-0 run over the final 9:19 of the frame. The third quarter rally was led by a pair of tallies from Taryn Asselin and a buzzer beating goal to end the quarter by Kelly Logue.
 
Siena Notes and Notables
  • Siena’s duo of Asselin and Jordan Bentley led the team with a pair of goals each.
  • Asselin also won a game-high seven draw controls
  • Five Saints added one goal apiece (Logue, Elizabeth Wamp, Sarah Irish, Kylie Kuhn, and Rebecca Gilhooley) with Logue handing out two assists and Irish dishing out one assist.
  • Defensively, the Saints were led by Mikayla Cooke who led the team with three ground balls and two cause turnovers.
  • Siena recorded 10 more shots than Canisius (28-18) and posted an 18-13 shots on goal advantage.
  • The Saints also dominated the draw control battle (14-5).
  • Sabrina Krasner earned the win in goal, making seven saves.
  • The five-goal third quarter for the Saints were more than either team scored combined in any other quarter in the contest.
  • Siena has now won three straight postseason meetings against Canisius.
  • The opening round win for the Saints puts the team in the league’s final four for the fifth consecutive season dating back to 2019.
 
Canisius Notes and Notables
  • Hailey Rooney led Canisius with a hat trick, scoring a game-high three goals on five shot attempts, having all five shots on goal.
  • MAAC Rookie of the Year, Maddie Fitzgerald followed with two points, coming from one goal and one assist.
  • Judy Chu made nine saves in the net while giving up nine goals in the defeat.
  • The Griffs had the edge in ground balls (14-12), free position shots (3-2), and caused turnovers (7-6).
  • The defeat marks the fifth straight postseason since 2019 Canisius has failed to advance out of the opening round, having three of the defeats coming against Siena (2019, 2021, 2024).
     
No. 5 Mount St. Mary’s – 17 | No. 4 Iona – 13
Mazzella Field | NEW ROCHELLE, NY
Box Score

No. 5 Mount St. Mary’s (8-9) used an offensive outburst to beat No. 4 Iona (12-5) on the road in New Rochelle, NY. After the Gaels took a 2-0 lead early in the meeting, the Mountaineers outscored the Gaels 5-1 the remainder of the quarter following the media timeout to gain a two-point advantage, which would never be relinquished. The two-point lead would remain in favor of the Mount at halftime. In the third period, the visitors would erupt for a six-goal frame, to take a commanding 14-8 edge into the final quarter, where the deficit would be too much for Iona to erase, leading to the 17-13 final.
 
Mount St. Mary’s Notes and Notables
  • A trio of Mountaineers recorded hat tricks with Anna Salerno, Madison Harmening, and Mackenzi Furlong combining to score 12 goals.
  • Furlong led the way with a team-high six points, coming from three goals and three assists.
  • Salerno had a game-high five goals on seven shot attempts.
  • Harmening scored four goals and led the team by winning six draw controls.
  • Christina Haspert scored one goal and dished out a pair of assists for three points, while four additional Mount players scored one goal.
  • In net, Ashlyn Watkins played all 60:00 minutes in the winning effort, making nine stops.
  • Defensively, Mackey Fick scooped up four grounds balls and had one caused turnover to lead the Mount.
  • Mount St. Mary’s had an efficient day offensively, with 25 of the team’s 29 shot attempts landing on goal.
  • The Mount scooped up more ground balls (12-10) and held an advantage in shots on goal (25-22), as well as free position shots (5-2).
  • The 17 goals were the second-most scored in a game by the Mountaineers this season and the second-highest scored against Iona by a MAAC opponent in 2024.
  • The MAAC tournament victory for the Mount is the first in program history, coming in just the second season as a member in the league but the sixth overall for the program dating back to 2019, with five coming as members of the NEC.
 
Iona Notes and Notables
  • Iona also had three individual hat tricks; Kira Varada (5 goals), Maliya Haddock (3 goals), and Emily Stewart (3 goals).
  • MAAC Co-Midfielder of the Year Varada stuffed the stat sheet with six points, also adding an assist, a team-high six draw controls, a team-most three ground balls, and one caused turnover.
  • Haddock followed with five points, contributing a pair of assists to go along with her goals.
  • Stewart had four draw controls as well as her goals.
  • Micaela FitzPatrick chipped in with two points (1 goal, 1 assist).
  • Lauren Sweeny (55:19) and Sofia Votto (4:41) each saw action in goal, with Sweeny making eight saves, while giving up 14 goals and getting the decision.
  • The Gaels took more shots, 36-29 and held a 7-4 advantage in caused turnovers.
 
The 2024 MAAC Women's Lacrosse Championship will resume on Friday, May 3 with the semifinals and conclude with the championship final on Sunday, May 5. The championship semifinals and final will be hosted by Fairfield at Conway Field at Rafferty Stadium in Fairfield, CT for the second straight year. Semifinal action will include Mount St. Mary’s facing No. 1 Fairfield at 12:00 p.m. and Siena will meet No. 2 Niagara at 3:00 p.m.
 
Tickets for all games during the 2024 MAAC Women’s Lacrosse Championship can be purchased through HomeTown Ticketing at the gate or by visiting maacsports.com.
 
For all information regarding the 2024 MAAC Women’s Lacrosse Championship, please visit maacsports.com/wlax.
 
About the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference:
With 11 institutions strongly bound by the sound principles of quality and integrity in academics and excellence in athletics, the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) is in its 43rd year of competition during the 2023-24 academic year. Current conference members include: Canisius University, Fairfield University, Iona University, Manhattan College, Marist College, Mount St. Mary’s University, Niagara University, Quinnipiac University, Rider University, Saint Peter’s University, and Siena College. Merrimack College and Sacred Heart University will join the MAAC as full members in the 2024-25 academic year, expanding the conference to 13 institutions.
 
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