POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. – Behind a stellar 17-save effort from junior goalkeeper Andrea Francisco, the Purple Eagles lacrosse team came back from a 9-7 second-period deficit to knock off the Marist Red Foxes 10-9 Tuesday afternoon at Tenney Stadium. The win moved Niagara to 2-1 in MAAC play and 6-5 overall in the 2016 season.
                                                   
"I could not be more proud of how the team rebounded from Sunday's game and came out ready to play right from the start," head coach Wendy Stone said. "Today we competed for 60 minutes, and it was a total team effort. Our defense really stepped up and set the tone for the win."
 
Francisco posted the highest save total in one game by any MAAC goalkeeper this season with her 17 saves, which included four on free position shots. Sarah Arndt and Caroline Crump each scored twice for the Purple Eagles, while Samantha Brill and Taylor Wolf posted one goal and one assist apiece. Hailey D'Hont, Jillian Ford, Molly Gray, and Rachel MacCheyne rounded out the Niagara scoring.
 
Niagara opened the game on a 3-0 run to set the tone for the win at Marist. Brill found Ford in front of the net for the game's opening goal 1:48 into the contest, while Arndt scored off a free position shot before Gray's tally made it 3-0 six and a half minutes in. Marist scored four of the next five goals over a 13-minute stretch to tie the game at four.
 
After Brill and the Red Foxes' Allison Gionta traded goals, Wolf gave Niagara the halftime lead at 6-5. Francisco made a stunning 13 saves in the first period, already a season- and career-high after making 12 in an 11-10 overtime loss at Colgate on Feb. 23. Niagara's defense also started the game strong in front of Francisco; despite the Red Foxes outshooting the Purple Eagles 22-10 in the first period, Niagara held Marist's top scorers, Gionta and Kara McHugh, to just one goal each through 30 minutes of play.
 
Coming out of halftime, Niagara got the first of two goals from Crump, but Marist (5-6, 2-1 MAAC) stormed back with a four-goal run, including three from Gionta to take a 9-7 lead with 19:54 to play. From that point on, however, the Niagara defense buckled down and did not allow another goal, as Francisco made four saves down the stretch while the Purple Eagles found the offensive effort to come back.
 
Just 1:20 after Marist's ninth goal, Crump put Niagara back within one with her team-leading 20th goal of the season. Arndt fought through the Marist defense to find the equalizer with 10:35 to play, and just under five minutes later, it was Wolf who found MacCheyne with space to shoot, and the freshman scored the first game-winning goal of her career. Marist had a chance to tie the game on a free position shot with 2:50 to play, but Francisco made the save and the Red Foxes never got the ball back in the offensive zone, as Niagara held on for the win.
 
The Purple Eagles return home on Saturday, April 9 to continue conference play, as the Iona Gaels visit Monteagle Ridge. Game time is set for 1 p.m.

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