LOUDONVILLE, N.Y. — When faced with a physical style of defense from Niagara, Siena women’s lacrosse responded with zeal to outscore the opposition 10-3 in the middle quarters and rolled for an 18-13 victory on Senior Day over the MAAC defending champion Purple Eagles on Saturday at Hickey Field.
Four Saints recorded a hat trick, including Sarah Irish, Koehler Nieman, and a pair of seniors in Kelly Logue and Grace Dobrzynski.
The Saints (8-8 overall, 6-2 MAAC) extended their win streak to six games, its longest since it won a program-record eight straight games during the 2021 season.
After the teams played to a 4-4 tie at the end of the first quarter, Siena got scores from Dobrzynski and Logue to push the lead to 6-4.
MAAC leading scorer Maddy Gill got on the board to cut the lead to one with 9:10 left in the second quarter, but the Saints came back with goals from Nieman and Logue to grab a three-goal advantage.
After Niagara’s Hannah Kent converted on the woman-up advantage for her seventh goal of the season, Kylie Kuhn, Irish, and another from Kuhn made it 11-6 Siena with 8:56 left in the third quarter.
Each time that Niagara scored, Siena had an answer. When Gill scored her 50th of the season, Dobrzynski, Cassidy Bonur,a and Logue scored consecutive marks to double up the Purple Eagles 14-7.
Bonura showcased her speed and stick skills throughout with a team-best nine draw controls while senior Mikayla Cook did a little bit of everything, stuffing the stats sheet with three ground balls, three draw controls, and causing three turnovers.
In net, freshman McAllister Salter remained undefeated in goal as the freshman improved to 6-0 in starts that she has made this season.
The Tappan, N.Y. native made four saves in 52-plus minutes of action.
Siena held hefty advantages in shots (35-20) and shots on goal (25-18).
The Saints were 5-of-11 on free-position attempts while Niagara was 1-for-4.
The Purple Eagles fell to 7-10 overall and 5-3 in conference play.
Siena has clinched the third seed in the MAAC Tournament and will be back in action next Sunday in the second round of the MAAC Championships when it hosts either No. 6 Sacred Heart or No. 7 Quinnipiac, with a time to be determined at Hickey Field.
The game can be watched streaming on ESPN+.
