NIAGARA UNIVERSITY, NY – The Purple Eagles will play their final road game of the regular season on Thursday when they travel to Loudonville, N.Y. to take on Siena at 3 p.m. on ESPN+.
Last Time Out
• Niagara fell to Louisville 19-10 on Monday afternoon to conclude its non-conference schedule.
• Three Purple Eagles recorded multi-goal games, including
Riley Latray and
Kendall Schneider who registered their first career-multi-goal efforts.
Andra Savage found the back of the net twice for her third game with two or more tallies.
• Niagara used three goalies in the contest.
Michelle Messenger got the start before being pulled for
Maren Geiger in the second quarter. Geiger finished with 27 minutes in the cage, making nine saves.
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Jordan Roy also appeared in net for NU, collecting three saves in 17 minutes of action.
Niagara Notes
• The Purple and White enter Thursday atop the league standings at 5-1.
• Niagara is 5-5 on the road this season and have won two of its three league road contests thus far.
• The Purple and White average 11.53 goals per game this season and 12.5 tallies in MAAC games.
• Senior goalkeeper
Michelle Messenger earned her third MAAC Defensive Player of the Week award after stopping 26 shots in a 2-0 MAAC week for NU.
• Messenger currently leads the MAAC and is 11th in the nation with a save percentage of .496. In league games Messenger has a save percentage of .572.
• The senior net minder is also the team leader with 33 ground balls.
• Junior
Lois Garlow leads Niagara with 41 goals and 16 assist. The attack has four game winning goals and 12 games with at least two tallies.
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Lexi Braniecki eclipsed the 30-goal mark against Fairfield, becoming the first Purple Eagle since Rachel MacCheyne to score 30 or more goals in each of her first two seasons on Monteagle Ridge.
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Rachel Crane currently sits third on the team with 29 goals and is first on the team with a .527 shot percentage.
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Jess Foley is second on the team with 32 ground balls in 15 games played, followed by
TaNia Cunningham with 28.
• Cunningham, a 2021 All-MAAC Second Team selection, is first on the team with 18 caused turnovers.
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Rachel Crane and Braniecki lead Niagara on the draw with 37 and 33 controls, respectively.
• As a team, Niagara is 222-for-274 on clear attempts, an 81.0 percent clip.
• The Purple Eagles are second in the conference with 268 ground balls.
Series History
• Niagara and Siena will meet for the 26th time on Thursday with the Purple and White holding a 15-10 advantage.
• The Purple and White have a 6-4 record over the Saints in the last 10 meetings, including a 14-13 victory last March.
• Niagara has won five of the last six meetings with its only loss to Siena coming in April of 2019.
Up Next
• The Purple and White will host Manhattan for Senior Day on Sunday, April 24. The opening draw between NU and the Jaspers is scheduled for a 12 p.m. start on ESPN+.
