HAMILTON, N.Y. – Just three days after an overtime loss at Binghamton, the Niagara lacrosse team found itself in another overtime battle with the Colgate Raiders. In the second overtime period, it was Colgate who found the winning goal, sending Niagara to an 11-10 loss Tuesday afternoon.
 
The Purple Eagles got three points from both Taylor Wolf (3+0) and Samantha Brill (2+1) to lead the attack. Sarah Arndt scored two goals and Caroline Crump added a goal and an assist. In goal, Andrea Francisco tied a career-high with 12 saves for Niagara, including three in overtime.
 
"Today was a battle on both ends of the field," head coach Wendy Stone said. "I'm very proud of the effort that the team showed, and we will work to clean up our play with the ball heading into Friday's game."
 
Niagara (0-2) started the game on a 2-0 run over the opening 10 minutes of play. Danielle Maio scored on an assist from Brill just two minutes into the contest, while Wolf capitalized off a Colgate turnover to score into a wide-open net 7:35 in. That 2-0 lead for Niagara was the biggest lead for either team in a game that saw nine ties in all.
 
Rachel MacCheyne scored her first goal of the season with 11:24 left to play in the first period, but Colgate would score twice in a row to take a 4-3 lead. In the closing minutes before halftime, Brill scored off of a rebound from Wolf's shot before Wolf scored with 12 seconds to play, ending the first period at 5-5.
 
The Raiders (1-1) opened the second-period scoring, but Crump scored her first of the season and Wolf completed her hat trick before eight minutes had passed after halftime. The two teams then alternated two goals apiece, with Sarah Arndt scoring two in a row for Niagara. The score then remained at 9-8 for nearly ten minutes before Colgate's Isabel Kreitler tied the game at nine.
 
Emily Peebles gave the Raiders the lead with 2:43 left in the second period, but Niagara controlled the ensuing draw and called a timeout to find a way to tie the game. It was Brill who picked up her second goal of the night, driving past a Colgate defender to the net and burying the shot to tie the game at 10-10, where it would remain for the rest of regulation time.
 
Both goalkeepers made two saves in the first three-minute overtime to prolong the game. Just over a minute into the second overtime, Francisco denied a free position shot by Colgate's Kreitler, but she picked up her own rebound for the loose ball and scored on the rebound. The late goal sent Niagara to its second overtime loss of the early 2016 season.
 
After two strong performances to start the season have both resulted in losses, Niagara turns its attention to Robert Morris. The Purple Eagles and Colonials face off Friday afternoon in Pittsburgh at 3:00 p.m.
 
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