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Last Saturday, the Niagara Purple Eagles women's lacrosse team picked up its first playoff victory since the 2003 season, dominating the Monmouth Hawks in a first-round matchup at Niagara Field and securing a 16-4 victory. The fourth-seeded Purple Eagles now look to a semifinal matchup against the MAAC's top seed and crosstown rival Canisius on Friday night, with the winner advancing to the MAAC championship game on Sunday, May 7.
 
Opening draw between Niagara and Canisius on Friday, May 5 is set for 8 p.m. Day passes are on sale online and at the door for $10 and include admission to both the Niagara-Canisius game as well as the first semifinal matchup at 4 p.m. between No. 2 Fairfield and No. 3 Marist. Children, seniors, and students with valid school ID can purchase tickets for $5. The semifinal games at the Demske Sports Complex in Buffalo will also be aired on ESPN3.
 
Five Purple Eagles Earn All-MAAC Accolades

• At the MAAC's awards banquet Thursday afternoon, five members of the Niagara women's lacrosse team picked up All-MAAC honors and nine were named to the MAAC All-Academic Team.
• Junior Alexandra Higgins was named the MAAC Defender of the Year in addition to being the only unanimous All-MAAC First Team selection at defense. Higgins ranks in the top three of the MAAC and top 20 nationally for ground balls (55), draw controls (111), and caused turnovers (35), all of which are Niagara single-season program records. Higgins was previously named to the 2016 All-MAAC Second Team and was a Preseason All-MAAC Selection in 2017.
• Joining Higgins on the All-MAAC First team was sophomore attack Rachel MacCheyne. Her 59 goals and 74 points this season lead all attackers in the MAAC, ranking second overall in the conference, and both totals stand as single-season records at Niagara.
• Jillian Ford was named All-MAAC Second Team, her second all-conference honor after earning a spot on the 2015 MAAC All-Rookie Team. Ford set career-highs offensively (21 goals, seven assists) and defensively (27 ground balls, 43 draw controls, 21 caused turnovers). Ford is an integral part of Niagara's draw team that leads the MAAC in draw controls per game and has won nearly 58 percent of its draws on the season.
• Niagara placed multiple players on the MAAC All-Rookie Team, as midfielder Audrey Fithall and defender Lauren Paul both made the team as unaninimous selections. Fithall started 13 of 18 games for the Purple Eagles and registered 15 points, 16 ground balls, 13 draw controls, and eight caused turnovers. Paul has started all 18 games this season at defense, ranking fourth on Niagara with 22 ground balls and third with 20 caused turnovers.
• MacCheyne also earned MAAC All-Academic Honors on top of being named to the All-MAAC First Team. All four of Niagara's seniors, Andrea Francisco, Isabella Leon, Kara Martin, and Hannah Vause were academic honorees. Those five were joined by junior Samantha Brill and sophomores Bailey Collins, Hailey D'Hont, and Mackenzie Molodetz.

First Round Recap

• To advance to the semifinal round, Niagara put on one of its best performances of the year in the first round of the 2017 MAAC Women's Lacrosse Championship.
• The fourth-seeded Purple Eagles used an 11-0 run in the first half to pave the way to a commanding 16-4 victory over the fifth-seeded Monmouth Hawks at Niagara Field on Apr. 29.
• Monmouth took a 2-1 lead early in the game, but Hailey D'Hont's tying goal 8:16 into the game started an 11-0 run by the Purple Eagles as Monmouth was held off the scoreboard for 19 minutes. Rachel MacCheyne scored four times in the 11-goal run while Caroline Crump scored twice and assisted on three other tallies.
• Goalkeeper Andrea Francisco made two early second-half saves for Niagara, but the Hawks would pick up the first goal of the second 4:47 past halftime to make it a 12-4 Niagara lead.
• Over the final 25 minutes, Niagara shut out Monmouth while tacking on four more goals courtesy of MacCheyne, D'Hont, Audrey Fithall, and Alexis Morales for the 16-4 victory. Francisco made four saves in that time to finish the game with seven saves on 11 shots on goal.
• MacCheyne finished the game with a career-high six goals, adding one assist for seven points. Crump finished the game with a season-high six points on two goals and four assists, and D'Hont had a season-high three goals.
• Defensively, Alexandra Higgins had a game-high nine draw controls as Niagara held a 15-6 advantage in that category. Higgins also added two ground balls and one caused turnover.
• Isabella Leon had a career-high three caused turnovers to lead Niagara in that category, and Kara Martin led the team with four ground balls.
• The 12-goal margin of victory was the second-biggest by Niagara this season. The Purple Eagles defeated the St. Bonaventure Bonnies 18-5 in the team's home opener on Feb. 20.

 
Playoff History

• The Purple Eagles look ahead to their fourth appearance in the MAAC semifinals on Friday. Niagara is 2-1 in its previous three trips to the conference semifinal round.
• Niagara finished third in the MAAC in 2003 (10-6, 4-2 MAAC), with the ten wins still standing as the program record for the most wins in a single season. The 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 finish in the MAAC standings, 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 Golden Griffins

• Niagara stayed close with Canisius for most of the game in the regular-season finale on Apr. 26. The Purple Eagles trailed just 9-8 early in the second half, but a seven-goal run by the Golden Griffins eventually led to an 18-9 Canisius win.
• Rachel MacCheyne scored the first goal of the second half, her fourth of the game. MacCheyne's tally gave her the single-season program records in both goals (53) and points (67).
• MacCheyne's four goals led the Purple Eagles offensively. Fellow sophomore Mackenzie Molodetz tallied her first two-goal game as a Purple Eagle.
• Alexandra Higgins tallied a game-high seven draw controls, adding two ground balls and two caused turnovers. Kara Martin turned in a strong all-around defensive game with two ground balls, two draw controls, and three caused turnovers, and Shea Swartwout added two ground balls.
• Andrea Francisco faced 26 shots on goal and made 11 saves, playing the first 48:30 in the cage. Olivia Schroeder made her collegiate debut over the last 11:30 of the game, allowing three goals and making two saves.
• Canisius holds a 12-10 lead in the all-time series against Niagara.

 
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 11.89 goals per game.
• On average, Niagara assisted on just more than five goals per game, ranking third in the conference with 98 total assists in 18 games.
• The Purple Eagles lead the MAAC with 30.61 shots per game, including a season-high 46 on Apr. 29 in the first-round victory over Monmouth.
• Rachel MacCheyne is second in the conference and leads all MAAC attackers with 59 goals and 74 points in 18 games. MacCheyne now holds the Niagara single-season records for goals and points in a season. On the NCAA level, she ranks 12th in goals and 23rd in points.
• The primary shooter in Niagara's offense, MacCheyne is tied for FIRST in the NCAA with 6.06 shots on goal per game, ranking THIRD with 8.17 shots per game overall. Both figures lead all MAAC players.
• Grace Hunt tied the Niagara single-season record for assists in the first-round win over Monmouth, giving her 38 for the season to rank third in the MAAC and 15th nationally. She has added 13 goals for a total of 51 points, which is tied for eighth in a single season in program history.
• Sophomores Alexis Morales (43+4) and Caroline Crump (28+19) are tied for third on the Purple Eagles with 47 points each this season. Morales' 43 goals rank fifth among all MAAC players.
• Defensively, Alexandra Higgins continues to build on her record-setting season, totaling 55 ground balls, 111 draw controls, and 35 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, tied for second in ground balls, and third in caused turnovers. On the NCAA level, she ranks ninth in draw controls, tied for 15th in ground balls, and tied for 20th in caused turnovers.
• Jillian Ford joins Higgins in the MAAC top 10 for draw controls, ranking ninth with 43. She also has 27 ground balls and 21 caused turnovers for the Purple Eagles and is also ranked fifth on the team in scoring with 28 points (21+7).
• Led by Ford and Higgins, Niagara has collected a MAAC-best 14.61 draw controls per game, and the Purple Eagles have won 57.7 percent of their draws all season (263-for-456).
• In goal, Andrea Francisco has matched her career-high with nine wins this season while setting career-highs in save percentage (.475) and total saves (170) and adding a goals-against average of 11.53.
• Francisco was at her best in conference play during the regular season, picking up 90 saves and a .506 save percentage in eight MAAC games. She recorded a season-high 14 saves versus Manhattan (Apr. 8) and versus Marist (Apr. 19), and allowed just four goals while making seven saves against Monmouth in the first round of the MAAC Championships.

 Matchup Comparison

CATEGORY	Niagara	Canisius
Overall Record	9-9	13-4
MAAC Record	5-3	8-0
Record (Last 5 Games)	3-2	5-0
Goals For Per Game	11.89	15.65
Goals Against Per Game	11.78	9.53
Points Per Game	17.33	22.94
Ground Balls Per Game	18.00	18.76
Draw Controls Per Game	14.61	13.53
Caused Turnovers Per Game	9.89	9.53
Save Percentage	.461	.500
Goals Leaders	MacCheyne (59), Morales (43), Crump (28)	Evans (66), Chad (47), Reininger (38)
Assists Leaders	Hunt (38), Crump (19), MacCheyne (15)	Smolensky (39), Roemer (26), Evans (25)
Points Leaders	MacCheyne (74), Hunt (51), Crump/Morales (47)	Evans (91), Roemer (62), Chad (54)
Ground Balls Leaders	Higgins (55), Francisco/Martin (38), Ford (27)	Evans (60), Reininger (34), Shanahan (29)
Draw Controls Leaders	Higgins (111), Ford (43), MacCheyne (34)	Bull (75), Evans (54), Reininger (19)
Caused Turnovers Leaders	Higgins (35), Ford (21), Martin/Paul (20)	Evans (39), Shanahan (23), Bull (20)
Goals-Against Average Leader	Francisco (11.53)	VanLaeken (10.13)
Save Percentage Leader	Francisco (.475)	VanLaeken (.488)

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