NIAGARA UNIVERSITY, N.Y. – Four Niagara University women’s lacrosse seniors will compete in their final home game Wednesday, as the Purple Eagles (5-4, 1-3) host Canisius (7-5, 2-2) at Niagara Field at 4 p.m.. Seniors Ashley Baker (Henrietta, N.Y.), Courtney Dowd (Wall, N.J.), Rachel Jones (Amherst, N.Y.) and Marissa Muldoon (Auburn, N.Y.) will be honored in a short ceremony prior to the start of the game.
Niagara is currently riding a two-game losing streak, dropping two road games over the weekend. The team lost a 15-13 decision at Fairfield Saturday, before falling, 9-8, at Marist, Sunday.
Canisius battled the same two teams over the weekend, also falling to Marist, 16-8, but defeating Fairfield, 14-12. The Golden Griffins are 2-3 on the road this season.
Niagara has never lost to Canisius, defeating the team in each of the 10 all-time contests. The most recent game between the two teams, April 12, 2004, concluded with a 9-5 win for Niagara. The Purple Eagles hold a 137-43 goal-scoring advantage over the Griffs.
Baker enters the game leading Niagara with 21 assists and 36 points, upping her career totals to 52 assists and 118 points. She needs three assists to move into a tie for third on Niagara’s all-time assist list and 14 points to move into the top-five point scorers all-time.
Jones, currently ranked third on the team with 16 goals, stands in fourth position all-time with 78 career goals. Seven goals will move her into a tie for third-highest goal scorer in Niagara history.
Dowd will be competing in her 50th career game Wednesday. She has totaled 17 points throughout her career, while picking up 44 ground balls and 27 draw controls.
Muldoon has matched her career high for ground balls in a single season with 11 in nine games this season. She has totaled six goals, two assists and eight points in 51 career games.
Canisius is led by freshman Whitney Card, who has 37 goals and 41 points in 10 games and leads the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference with 3.70 goals per game. She earned MAAC Rookie of the Week, April 11, after tying a school record with six goals in a 19-9 win over Iona before adding three additional goals in an 11-7 loss to Manhattan the following afternoon.
Canisius freshman Alana Chan leads the team with 12 assists and ranks second with 39 points. The Lakefield, Ont., native was a teammate of Niagara freshman leading scorer Emma-Lee Harrison (Lakefield, Ont.) at Lakefield District Secondary School and on the U-19 Team Canada club which earned the bronze medal in the 2003 International Federation of Women’s Lacrosse Association’s World Championship.
Canisius goalkeepers Katie Ferguson and Rasheeda Brenton have both registered over 330 minutes between the pipes. Ferguson posts better numbers with a 9.06 goals-against average and .554 save percentage. Niagara freshman goalkeeper Whitney Gill (Canandaigua, N.Y.) is the only MAAC goalkeeper recording a better save percentage, posting a .571 save percentage in nine games. Gill’s 8.32 goals-against average is 0.01 behind the MAAC leader, Liz Burkhard of Marist, who has allowed 13 goals in three games.
