The Canisius women's soccer team fell 1-0 to the Niagara Purple Eagles in double overtime this evening from Lewiston, N.Y., giving the team a 4-11-2 record to date.
The Griffs played well, holding their own throughout against one of the top teams in conference, but could not pull out the overtime victory.
“This shows what we've known the whole year, if we give our best effort there is enough talent here,” said head coach Todd Clark. “This team has heart. Do we have every answer, no, but were busting our butt and that's something to look forward to. Our younger players have gotten a lot of experience and aren't playing like freshman anymore.”
The beginning of the contest saw several scoring chances for the Purple Eagles. The first of which was stopped by freshman midfielder Melanie Linsmair, who was forced to play the role of goaltender after Senior goalie Kailee DeFranks came out of the net on a save attempt.
DeFranks continued her aggressive play throughout the first half attacking the ball and making several stops before any real scoring chances could take place.
The contest remained scoreless coming out of the half, where Niagara quickly scored on a header off of a free kick, but it was immediately called back on an offside.
As the second half progressed the Golden Griffins had problems creating offensive chances with only two shots during regulation.
“Again, everyone's all bound up on how many shots we get, but the only statistic that I care about is the score at the end,” said Clark. “I thought our kids defended well. Where we are with injuries, where we are with age and experience, I put this effort up with any we've had all year, Niagara is a good team.”
Down the stretch Defranks made several key saves on Niagara senior midfielder Hayley Besaw, who was all over the field for the Purple Eagles.
“The back four and Kailee put in a great effort,” said Clark. “They kept us in the game and held up to their end of the stick.”
Though Niagara had several scoring opportunities during the second half, neither team was able to find the back of the net during regulation, as the match would head to overtime.
Canisius has several chances to win the game in overtime including a would-be game winner off of a corner kick that was called back on a foul.
The game would stretch into the second overtime period, where Niagara finally broke the scoring drought on a shot from Haillie Price a mere 20 seconds into the period.
With the loss, Canisius moves to 2-6-0 in MAAC play.
The Griffs will next play this Saturday Oct. 24 against Saint Peter's at the Demske Sports Complex.
Game Notes: Senior goaltender Kailee DeFranks made seven saves on eight total shots moving her goals against average to 2.04… DeFranks leads the MAAC in saves with 102…The team was outshot by Niagara 16-5, while also coming up short on shots on goal 8-3…The team also lost the corner kick battle giving Niagara 6 more opportunities than the Canisius' three.
