NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y. – The Niagara Purple Eagles women's lacrosse team held off a late rally from the Iona Gaels and picked up an 11-9 victory Sunday afternoon in the team's first game of MAAC competition for the 2017 season. Jillian Ford was an all-around leader for the Purple Eagles with three goals, two ground balls, four draw controls, and three caused turnovers. Andrea Francisco made a season-high 11 saves in goal for her fourth win of the season.
 
Game Summary

• Final Score: Niagara 11, Iona 9
• Offensive Leaders: Jillian Ford (3G), Alexis Morales (2G, 1A), Rachel MacCheyne (1G, 2A)
• Defensive Leaders: Jillian Ford (2 GB, 4 DC, 3 CT), Alexandra Higgins (3 GB, 4 DC, 1 CT), Kara Martin (4 GB), Hailey D'Hont (3 GB, 2 CT)
• In Goal: Andrea Francisco (4-4) – 7 GA, 11 SV; Aubrey DeVeau – 2 GA, 2 SV
• Records: Niagara – 4-4 (1-0 MAAC); Iona – 3-7 (0-1 MAAC)
• Location: Mazzella Field – New Rochelle, N.Y.
• Attendance: 126

 
Game Recap

• Iona opened the game with a quick two-goal lead, but Caroline Crump opened the Niagara scoring with her 10th goal of the season, making it 2-1 six minutes in.
• Crump's goal sparked a 6-2 run for Niagara throughout the remainder of the first period. Grace Hunt set up Jillian Ford for the tying goal at the 17:21 mark. After Iona took a 3-2 lead on a goal by Katelyn Noschese, Rachel MacCheyne set up a strike from Alexis Morales before Ford put Niagara ahead 4-3 on a free-position score.
• Iona responded with a tying goal just 1:19 after Ford's goal, but MacCheyne returned the lead to the Purple Eagles at the 1:39 mark. Samantha Brill beat the buzzer and scored with five seconds left in the first period, putting Niagara up 6-4 at the half.
• A 4-1 Niagara run through the first 15 minutes of the second period gave the Purple Eagles a commanding 10-5 lead. Ford started the run 5:07 after halftime, and after an Iona goal, Hailey D'Hont, Mackenzie Molodetz, and Alexis Morales tallied three straight in a four-minute stretch.
• Iona was able to hold the Purple Eagles in check and use a three-goal run of their own to make it a 10-8 game, pulling within two with 6:43 to play.
• A free-position goal by Brill put Niagara back up three, and Iona was only able to score once more against the Niagara defense, as the game ended in an 11-9 win for the Purple Eagles.

 
Coach's Corner

• Head coach Wendy Stone: "Today was a total team effort, we got stops when we needed to and finished more consistently. We need to clean up our play with the ball at the end of the game, but I'm very proud of the effort and the game the team put together today."

 
Inside the Numbers

• Jillian Ford finished with her first career three-goal game in the win at Iona on Sunday, one of three Purple Eagles with a team-high three points in the game. The junior was also a leader for Niagara on the defensive side of the ball, with two ground balls, three caused turnovers, and four draw controls.
• In addition to Ford, Rachel MacCheyne (1+2) and Alexis Morales (2+1) each tallied three points. MacCheyne leads Niagara with 28 points (23+5) this season, and Morales is third with 26 points (23+3).
• Grace Hunt added two assists to push her team-leading total to 20. Hunt's mark of 2.5 assists per game leads the MAAC and ranks in the top 10 of the NCAA.
• Niagara set a season-high with 38 shots at Iona, led by Morales with nine and MacCheyne with eight.
• Mackenzie Molodetz scored her first career goal in the second period.
• Hailey D'Hont set season-highs with three ground balls and two caused turnovers in the win, while Kara Martin collected a game-high four ground balls to increase her team-leading total to 23.
• Andrea Francisco made a season-high 11 saves in her fourth win of the season. Combined with two saves by Aubrey DeVeau, Niagara set a season-high with 13 saves in the game.
• Niagara held Iona to just nine goals and 11 points, the second-least the team has allowed in any game this season.

 
Up Next

• Niagara wraps up its two-game road trip at Rutgers on Tuesday night, the team's first of two games against Big Ten competition this season. The Purple Eagles and Scarlet Knights are slated for a 7 p.m. opening draw.
• The Purple Eagles return to Niagara Field on Saturday, April 1 to host the Fairfield Stags at 12 p.m.

 
 
Stay connected with the Purple Eagles through social media. Follow Niagara Athletics on Twitter @NUPurpleEagles and for lacrosse updates, follow Niagara women's lacrosse on Twitter and Instagram. Check in with the Purple Eagles on Facebook.com/PurpleEagles and on Instagram @NUPurpleEagles.