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With two games to play in the regular season, the Purple Eagles lacrosse team has clinched a postseason berth for a second consecutive season and the fifth time in program history. While none of the seeds are locked for the MAAC Tournament, all six teams to advance to the postseason have been determined: Niagara will be joined by Canisius, Monmouth, Iona, Marist, and Fairfield.
 
The Purple Eagles currently sit fourth in the MAAC, one of three teams with a 4-2 conference record while holding an 8-7 overall record. Each of Niagara's final two regular-season games are against teams in the postseason fray, beginning with a matchup at Fairfield on Saturday, April 23 at 12 p.m.
 
Last Time Out

• In Niagara's win over Siena on April 20, the Saints picked up six consecutive goals to take an 8-6 halftime lead. The Purple Eagles came back strong, however, outscoring Siena 8-0 in the last 30 minutes to take the 14-8 victory.
• After starting their 12-8 win over Manhattan on April 16 with four straight goals, Niagara leapt out to a 3-0 lead against Siena with two goals from Hailey D'Hont and one from Sarah Arndt.
• Niagara would earn another three-goal run with scores from Alexis Morales, Caroline Crump, and Cailyn Negus to go ahead 6-2 in the first period, but Siena scored six times in the final 11:22 before halftime to claim the 8-6 lead.
• Samantha Brill and Arndt scored in the first two minutes of the second to tie the game for Niagara before Crump scored a breakaway goal to put Niagara ahead for good just 17 seconds after the tying goal.
• Negus scored three of the Purple Eagles' five goals in the remainder of the second half, netting the first hat trick in her time at Niagara and finishing with a team-high four goals as Niagara matched its highest scoring output in a game this season.
• Andrea Francisco made nine saves on 17 Siena shots on goal, earning her seventh game of the 2016 season with a save percentage of .500 or better.

 
Niagara Notes

• With two goals against Siena, Caroline Crump improved her team-leading offensive totals to 29 goals, 14 assists, and 43 points. The last rookie to lead Niagara in scoring was Erralyn Thomas in 2006, who had 30 points in 12 games.
• The leading freshman scorer in the MAAC, Crump ranks tenth among all MAAC players in goals, sixth in assists, and ninth in total points.
• Andrea Francisco has the MAAC's second-best goals-against average this season (9.97) in addition to a .405 save percentage.
• Francisco's 98 total saves rank fourth in the conference, and she holds the highest save in total in one game by a MAAC goalkeeper this season with 17 in a 10-9 win at Marist on April 5.
• As a team, Niagara holds the best marks in the MAAC for ground balls per game (20.4; ninth in the NCAA) and caused turnovers per game (9.53; 25th in the NCAA) while ranking second in scoring defense at 9.87 goals against per game.
• Eight Purple Eagles have ten or more caused turnovers this season, led by Elizabeth Benedict (16) and Danielle Maio (15).
• Benedict also ranks tenth in the MAAC with 2.2 ground balls per game (33 in 15 games played).

 
Scouting the Stags (7-7, 3-3 MAAC)

• The defending MAAC women's lacrosse champions, Fairfield clinched a postseason berth on April 20 with a 17-3 win over Quinnipiac.
• In the last matchup between these two teams, Fairfield defeated Niagara 16-8 at Niagara Field on April 4, 2015.
• After a four-game losing streak to end the month of March, Fairfield has won three of its past four games heading into Saturday's matchup with Niagara.
• Riley Hellstein (34+5) and Julieanna Mascera (30+9) are tied for the Fairfield scoring lead with 39 points apiece.
• Goalkeeper Chelsey Sidaras has started 13 of the Stags' 14 outings this season, ranking fourth in the MAAC with a 10.44 goals-against average to go with a .398 save percentage.

 
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