NIAGARA UNIV., N.Y. – The Purple Eagles lacrosse team opened its 2016 home schedule in thrilling fashion. Trailing 7-5 with 10 minutes left in regulation, Niagara rattled off four straight goals against the Cincinnati Bearcats on the way to a 9-8 victory on Sunday afternoon at Niagara Field.
 
"Today we put together a great effort on both ends of the field," head coach Wendy Stone said. "The defense stepped up and made stops when we needed them on the second half. We will continue to work to clean things up on the offensive end of the field and look forward to taking another step forward next time out."

Sarah Arndt led all Niagara scorers with three goals in the win. Alexis Morales scored two goals with Caroline Crump adding two assists. Molly Gray, Danielle Maio and Taylor Wolf each added one goal and one assist. Andrea Francisco made four saves in goal to earn the win.
  
Niagara (2-4) fell behind early to Cincinnati as the Bearcats took a 2-0 lead six minutes into the game. The Purple Eagles came back strong at that point, holding Cincinnati off the board for nearly 10 minutes while taking a 3-2 lead. Arndt missed the net on a free position shot but scored during the next play at the 22:45 mark of the first period. More than five minutes passed before the next goal, as it was Crump again who set up Maio driving in front of the net for the tying goal. Niagara then capitalized off a Cincinnati turnover, as Wolf gave Niagara the 3-2 lead halfway through the first period.
 
The Bearcats (4-4) tied the game just 20 seconds after Wolf's goal and reclaimed the lead 4-3 at the 10:27 mark. However, Niagara held off Cincinnati for the remainder of the period, and with 2:55 until halftime Arndt scored her second of the day, sending the teams to halftime tied at four.
 
In similar fashion to the first period, Cincinnati scored two unanswered goals in the first six minutes of the second period to take a 6-4 lead. The Bearcats held that lead as the game went scoreless for just under 12 minutes before Arndt completed her hat trick with 12:27 to play, making it 6-5. Cincinnati won the ensuing draw and held the ball for two minutes before making it 7-5, but Maio won the following draw and found Morales, who sprinted the length of the field and scored to start Niagara's comeback run with 9:48 left.
 
Niagara held Cincinnati scoreless on a two-minute possession to stay within one, and on the Purple Eagles' next attack, Gray drew a free position chance and scored the tying goal with 5:22 to play. Rachel MacCheyne won the next draw and scored with an assist from Wolf just 49 seconds after Gray's tying goal. Alexandra Higgins won the draw following the go-ahead goal which led to Morales' second tally of the day, the eventual game-winning score with 2:56 left in regulation.
 
The Purple Eagles drew a yellow card on Cincinnati in the final two minutes, creating a man-up situation, but Cincinnati managed to draw within one off a free position tally with 46 seconds left. The Bearcats won the ensuing draw for a chance to tie the game, but Samantha Brill forced a turnover that Maio recovered to seal the victory.
 
Niagara is back in action at Niagara Field on Friday, March 18 as the Purple Eagles host the Mount St. Mary's Mountaineers. For that game, the team will Lace Up 4 Pediatric Cancer in support of Niagara's Team IMPACT member, Caralyn Reynolds.
 
Stay connected with the Purple Eagles through social media. Follow Niagara Athletics on Twitter @NUPurpleEagles and for lacrosse updates, follow @NiagaraWLAX. Check in with the Purple Eagles on Facebook.com/PurpleEagles and on Instagram @NUPurpleEagles.