POUGHKEEPSIE, NY – Despite a late rally, the Purple and White (8-6, 2-3 MAAC) fell to Marist (4-9, 2-3 MAAC) 12-11 Wednesday afternoon in MAAC women's lacrosse action in Poughkeepsie.
 
Lexi Braniecki led Niagara with four goals, while Rachel Crane added three and Andra Savage and Jenna Brill recorded a pair in the loss. Katie Ling made eight saves in goal for Niagara.
 
Game Recap
First Quarter
• The Red Foxes jumped out to an early 2-0 lead over Niagara, before Jenna Brill found the back of the net on a free-position goal to get Niagara on the board.
• The Brill tally was the first of three for Niagara, with Lexi Braniecki scoring twice in a two-minute span to give the Purple and White a 3-2 advantage with 2:49 to play in the opening quarter.
• Marist would tie the game with 1:04 on the clock.
 
Second Quarter
• The Red Foxes went up 5-3 with two goals in the first five minutes of the second stanza.
• Brill would score her second goal of the contest with 9:58 on the clock to make it a one goal game in favor of the home team.
• Braniecki scored her third goal of the game via a free-position to tie things at 4-4 with 4:47 remaining in the first half.
• Marist would end the half on a 3-0 run to take a 8-5 lead over Niagara into the break.
 
Third Quarter
•  Marist added two goals to its lead to double up the Purple Eagles, 10-5.
• Braniecki scored her fifth of the game after receiving a pass from Riley Latray to put Niagara down four, 10-6.
• Andra Savage and Rachel Crane would find the back of the net before the quarter came to a close to make it a 10-8 game heading into the final period of play.
 
Fourth Quarter
• With 12:14 on the clock, Marist would score their second goal of the quarter and take a four-goal lead over Niagara.
• With the score 12-8 Niagara would rattle off three-straight goals, two from R. Crane and another from Savage to make it a one-goal game with 1:28 to go.
• After winning the ensuing draw control, Marist would call timeout and proceed to run out the final 1:28 to hold on for its 12-11 win over NU.
 
Niagara Notes
• Niagara drops to 10-18 all-time against Marist.
• Katie Ling made her third consecutive start, stopping eight of Marist's 25 shots.
• Niagara outshot Marist, 39-25.
• Braniecki netted her sixth game this season with three or more goals and first since scoring five at Mount St. Mary's on March 25.
• Brill recorded her third multi-goal game of the season and first since March 11 against Deleware.
• Latray's two assists gives her 32 for the season, which ranks fifth all-time. The junior is currently six assists shy of tying the programs single-season record of 38 set by Sandra Gallegos (2002) and Grace Hunt (2017).
 
Up Next
• Niagara will take a trip to Fairfield, Conn., to take on MAAC leading Fairfield on Saturday, April 15 with the opening draw between the Purple Eagles and Stags set for 12 p.m. on ESPN3.
 
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