NIAGARA UNIV., N.Y.  – The Niagara women's lacrosse team fell to the Albany Great Danes, 19-9, on Monday afternoon at Niagara Field.  

With the loss, the Purple Eagles fall to 3-4 on the season, while the Great Danes remain undefeated during the 2013-14 campaign with a 8-0 mark.

"Albany is one of the best teams we play all year.  We were very pleased with the effort on all fronts," head coach Wendy Stone said.  "We set out to compete for 60 minutes, and we fought hard to stay in the game.  It was a great test for us as we head into MAAC play."

The first half saw both teams exchanging goals for the first 12 minutes of play.  Freshman Taylor Wolf scored the game's opening goal seven minutes into the contest, while sophomore Danielle Maio picked up tally as well at the 18:37 mark of the first to put NU ahead 2-1.  The Great Danes would then go on a 10-1 run to end the opening half, piggy-backed by Dakotah Savitcheff's three goals and Rachel Bowles' pair of tallies.  Junior Hannah Barnett added the Purple Eagles' final goal of the opening 30 minutes to send NU into the first break down 11-3.  Barnett's 11th goal of the season came off a feed from Carrie-Jo Farrugia . 

The Purple Eagles went on the attack in the opening minute of the second half as senior Paige Matecki score an unassisted goal with 29:35 on the clock, but the Great Danes rattled off five straight as Julie Cyderman netted a pair in that span.  The run was cut short by two goals from the Purple and White—senior Maria Battista scored off an assist from Erin Patenaude with 15:01 remaining, while Farrugia found the back of the net nearly two minutes later to make it a 10-goal game. 

Despite Niagara limiting the Albany offensive push in the final 10 minutes of the contest, that was as close as the Purple Eagles' would come for the remainder of the game as both teams put away another three goals for a final score of 19-9.  Niagara's final trio of tallies came from freshman Wolf with an assist credited to Kayla Smith, junior Brittany Delano and sophomore Kristen Winter.   

Farrugia came away with a three-point afternoon of a goal and two assists, while Wolf garnered two points on a pair of goals. The Purple Eagles' net was guarded by senior Paige Sasser (six saves) and rookie Amanda Yavorek.  

Smith led the team with six draw controls and also forced two Great Dane turnovers.  Overall, Albany garnered a 19-to-12 advantage in groundballs, as well as a 32-to-16 advantage in shots.  Niagara won a total of 15 draw controls compared to Albany's 13. 

The Purple Eagles turn to action this Saturday, March 29 when Niagara begins conference play at Fairfield.  The contest is scheduled to start at noon.