Led by nine draw-controls from junior Ashley Bull, the Golden Griffins women's lacrosse team defeated the Duquesne Dukes at the Demske Sports Complex, 9-5. With the win, the Griffs move to 2-5 on the season and the loss drops Duquesne to 2-5. 

Canisius had eight draw controls in the first half en route to 14 in the game, compared to the Dukes two. Offensively, Canisius was led by two freshmen as Erica Evans, the reigning MAAC Rookie of the Week, scored three goals to lead the team and fellow freshman Lauren Smolensky added two of her own. 

"I was really proud of how our girls competed on the field tonight," said head coach Scott Teeter. "As a team we really stepped it up defensively and Scully made some key saves to keep Duquesne off of the board. Bull was also terrific on the draw and that was a major key to our victory tonight."

Besides the two freshmen, Taylor Giglio added two of her own and Tori Quinn and Bull each added one. The Griffs were also 3-6 on free-position shots and had only 16 fouls compared to the Dukes 27. 

The Dukes scored the first goal of the game with 22:04 left on the clock, but Canisius wouldn't stay off the board for long scoring four goals compared to Duquesne's one from 20:39 to 10:15. The Griffs would get one more goal with 2:28 left on the clock to go into the locker room at the half up 5-2.

The second half saw the two teams go back and forth in goals, with the first one coming with 26:41 left in regulation. The closest the Dukes would come would b withing three when Kaelin Shaw scored at the 25:24 mark, but the Griffs would answer every score by Duquesne from there on out, leading to the 9-5 victory. 

Defensively, the Griffs had 22 ground balls, including five from Evans and 10 caused turnovers, including two from Sami Franco and Nicole Nelson. In goal for the Blue and Gold was senior Kayla Scully (1-3) who had eight saves and two ground balls.

The next game for the Griffs will be on Saturday, March 21 when the Blue and Gold host MAAC opponent Quinnipiac at 11:00 a.m.

Game Notes: Bull's second draw control of the game was the 100th of her career..the goal by Quinn was the 130th of her career and increased her point total to 199, just four points from breaking the school record (203)...the victory for Scully was the first of the season for the senior..with her three goals today, freshman Erica Evans has scored at least three goals in the teams past three games.