2017 MAAC Women's Lacrosse Championship Information

Tickets | Watch Live on MAAC.TV | Live Stats

For the third consecutive season and the sixth time in program history, the Niagara Purple Eagles women's lacrosse team has advanced to the MAAC Championships. Niagara finished fourth in the MAAC with a 5-3 conference record (8-9 overall), tying the program record for most conference wins in a season; Niagara also went 5-3 in MAAC play in the 2016 campaign.
 
This season, Niagara will host the fifth-seeded Monmouth Hawks (6-11, 4-4 MAAC) in the first round of the MAAC Championships. The winner of Saturday's contest advances to the conference semifinals, which will be played Friday, March 5 on the campus of Canisius College in Buffalo, N.Y.
 
Saturday's game can be seen live on MAAC.TV and can also be viewed locally on LCTV. The first 100 Niagara students at the playoff matchup at Niagara Field will receive free admission; after that, student tickets will be available for $5. Tickets for the general public are on sale for $10, while children and seniors receive $5 tickets.

Regular Season in Review

• Niagara tied its best record in MAAC play this regular season at 5-3, matching the team's 2016 conference record.
• In addition to defeating Monmouth, the Purple Eagles picked up wins over MAAC opponents Iona, Manhattan, Siena, and Quinnipiac.
• In non-conference play, the Purple Eagles picked up wins over St. Bonaventure (18-5 on Feb. 20), Mount St. Mary's (15-11 on Mar. 4) and Stetson (16-14 on Mar. 10).
• Niagara came up on the losing end of a pair of one-goal games, falling 11-10 versus Colgate (Feb. 28) and versus Binghamton (Mar. 22).
• The Purple Eagles also traveled to play two Big Ten opponents this season, Rutgers and Michigan. Niagara's non-conference schedule also included a 12-8 loss at Atlantic Sun power Jacksonville.

 
Breaking Records

• The Purple Eagles broke multiple women's lacrosse program records during the regular season, and have a chance to add to their totals in the postseason.
• Junior Alexandra Higgins is rewriting the defensive records as her 53 ground balls, 102 draw controls, and 34 caused turnovers are all the highest-recorded single-season totals at Niagara.
• With four goals at Canisius on Wednesday, Rachel MacCheyne set new single-season program records with 53 goals and 67 points.
• Alexis Morales joins MacCheyne on the single-season goals leaderboard, currently at sixth with 41.
• Grace Hunt has 35 assists, just three away from Sandra Gallegos' program record of 38 set during the 2002 campaign. Her 50 career assists are sixth all-time at Niagara.
• Hunt (48 points) and Morales (45 points) are also on the cusp of the top 10 for points in a season. Ashley Baker currently sits tenth with 50 points during the 2004 campaign.
• With 34 ground balls and 19 caused turnovers this season, Kara Martin is improving on her Niagara career defensive records, currently with 140 ground balls and 62 caused turnovers in four seasons.
• Goalkeeper Andrea Francisco has 470 career saves to rank third in Niagara history, and her career-high 163 this season is the seventh-highest single-season total.

 
Playoff History

• The Purple Eagles look ahead to their sixth MAAC postseason appearance starting on Saturday.
• Niagara finished fourth in the MAAC in 2016 (9-8, 5-3 MAAC) before falling 9-7 at Niagara Field in a first-round matchup against the fifth seeded Fairfield Stags.
• In 2015, Niagara picked up its first postseason berth since 2003 and its first under the guidance of head coach Wendy Stone. The sixth-seeded Purple Eagles (6-12, 3-5 MAAC) traveled to West Long Branch to face third-seeded Monmouth, with the Hawks claiming a 14-9 win.
• Niagara finished third in the MAAC in 2003 (10-6, 4-2 MAAC), with the ten wins still standing as the program record for most wins in a season. The third-ranked Purple Eagles were defeated 15-7 in the conference semifinals by second-seeded Le Moyne.
• The Purple Eagles last advanced to the conference championship game in 2001, when the team earned its best-ever MAAC finish, entering the playoffs seeded second. After taking down third-seeded Marist 14-7 in the semifinals, Niagara fell 8-5 to first-seeded Fairfield in the championship.
• Niagara's first conference championships appearance came in 2000, when the fourth-seeded Purple Eagles upset the top-seeded Marist Red Foxes 13-8 in the semifinals. Niagara lost in the championship game to the Manhattan Jaspers by a score of 11-8.

Last Time Against the Hawks

• Niagara claimed a 13-8 win over the Monmouth Hawks in this year's regular-season matchup on Saturday, April 15. The Purple Eagles took a commanding 7-2 lead at halftime and held off a late Monmouth rally to secure the win at Niagara Field.
• The win over Monmouth helped Niagara clinch a postseason berth for the third straight season and helped the Purple Eagles advance to 4-1 in MAAC play for the first time since 2003.
• Rachel MacCheyne set a career-high with seven points to lead Niagara offensively, scoring five goals and two assists. She would later match that career-best total April 23 at Quinnipiac.
• Caroline Crump (2+1), Jillian Ford (3+0), and Grace Hunt (2+1) all racked up three points in the win.
• Alexandra Higgins led Niagara at the defensive end with a stellar all-around performance, tallying five ground balls, five draw controls, and five turnovers.
• MacCheyne had a game-high six draw controls as Niagara commanded the circle and won 17 of 23 draws in the game.
• The eight goals allowed by Niagara senior goalkeeper Andrea Francisco were the second-least in a game all season. Francisco made nine saves in the win.

 
In the MAAC

• After finishing seventh in the MAAC in scoring offense in 2015 and eighth in 2016, Niagara boasted the MAAC's third-best offense this season, averaging 11.65 goals per game.
• On average, Niagara assisted on just more than five goals per game, ranking third in the conference with 90 total assists in 17 games.
• The Purple Eagles were third in the MAAC in the regular season with 29.71 shots per game.
• Rachel MacCheyne ranked second in the conference with 53 goals and 67 points in the regular season. The primary shooter in Niagara's offense, MacCheyne ranked third in the NCAA with an average of 8.12 shots per game and second with 6.00 shots on goal per game. Both figures led the MAAC.
• Grace Hunt finished the regular season third in the MAAC and tops among the Purple Eagles with 35 assists, adding 13 goals for 48 points.
• Alexis Morales finished fifth in the MAAC with 41 goals, adding four assists for 45 points.
• Defensively, Alexandra Higgins continues to build on her record-setting season, finishing the regular season with 53 ground balls, 102 draw controls, and 34 caused turnovers.
• Higgins was the only player in the MAAC to finish in the top three of all three categories, ranking second in draw controls and third in both ground balls and caused turnovers. On the NCAA level, she ranked ninth in draw controls, 11th in ground balls, and 16th in caused turnovers.
• Jillian Ford joined Higgins in the MAAC top 10 for draw controls, ranking ninth with 43. She added 26 ground balls and 20 caused turnovers for the Purple Eagles and also finished fifth on the team in scoring with 27 points (20+7).
• Led by Ford and Higgins, Niagara collected a MAAC-best 14.59 draw controls per game, and the Purple Eagles won 57 percent of their draws all season (248-for-435).
• In goal, Andrea Francisco finished the regular season 8-9 with a 12.02 goals-against average, a .470 save percentage, and 163 total saves.
• Francisco was at her best in conference play, picking up 90 saves and a .506 save percentage in eight MAAC games. She recorded a season-high 14 saves versus Manhattan (April 8) and versus Marist (April 19).

 Matchup Comparison
 

CATEGORY	Niagara	Monmouth
Overall Record	8-9	6-11
MAAC Record	5-3	4-4
Record (Last 5 Games)	3-2	2-3
Goals For Per Game	11.65	10.41
Goals Against Per Game	12.24	13.29
Points Per Game	16.94	15.71
Ground Balls Per Game	18.00	15.41
Draw Controls Per Game	14.59	11.06
Caused Turnovers Per Game	9.65	7.29
Save Percentage	.455	.415
Goals Leaders	MacCheyne (53), Morales (41), Crump (26)	Higson (35), Smith (30), Ryan (20)
Assists Leaders	Hunt (35), Crump (15), MacCheyne (14)	Ceraso (30), Corbliss/Stambaugh (11)
Points Leaders	MacCheyne (67), Hunt (48), Morales (45)	Ceraso (49), Higson (42), Smith (35)
Ground Balls Leaders	Higgins (53), Francisco (35), Martin (34)	Cortes (31), Brager (29), Corbliss (28)
Draw Controls Leaders	Higgins (102), Ford (43), MacCheyne (33)	Corbliss (49), LaMarca/Ryan (27)
Caused Turnovers Leaders	Higgins (34), Ford (20), Martin (19)	Corbliss/Cortes (17), Ryan (15)
Goals-Against Average Leader	Francisco (12.02)	Delliturri (13.07)
Save Percentage Leader	Francisco (.470)	Brager (.418)

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