The Canisius women's lacrosse team was defeated 13-4 this afternoon by Delaware in the team's third game of the season, moving their record to 1-2 overall.
Junior midfielder Kristen Hale led the scoring attack for the Blue Hens, scoring four goals, while teammate Coley Ricci added three goals of her own for Delaware.
For the Golden Griffins, freshman Tessa Chad scored her team-leading seventh goal of the season on a free position attempt with 2:02 left to play in the first half of action.
Also scoring for the Griffs were senior Taylor Giglio, sophomore Megan Maloney and sophomore Allie Stewart. Maloney's goal was her first of the season and second of her career, while Stewart scored her sixth and Giglio her fifth, good for second and fourth on the team respectively this year.
Freshman Ellen Newton recorded her first career start in net for the Blue and Gold making four saves.
“Consistency was the biggest issue for us today,” said head coach Scott Teeter. “We started off the game lacking tempo and had trouble finding it most of the game.”
Delaware would be the team to set the tempo early and kept it for the majority of the game, jumping out to a 6-0 first half lead, before Chad's goal at 2:02. The Blue Hens added a seventh goal with 0:26 left in the half, giving the team a 7-1 halftime lead.
After an early second half goal by Delaware's Ricci, the Griffs began to gain momentum, scoring two unanswered goals to close the gap to 8-3 with 19:07 left in the contest. The push was not enough however, as Blue Hens goalkeeper Taylor Carpentier made several key saves down the back end, as Delaware's offense continued to put up goals for a final score of 13-4.
Despite the loss, Teeter took several positives from the game.
“I thought Shannon Pelitera played well for us today coming in of the bench,” Teeter said. “Overall, we've had to play with a lot of youth to begin the season, and there will be growing pains, but you can see the talent is there.
"Tessa exucted on her goal and there were several other plays that we executed on, but we have to play the way we practice, with a much higher tempo," Teeter said.
The Griffs will next travel to Pittsburgh, Pa. to take on Duquesne University on Tuesday, March 8.
Game Notes: Chad is now the teams leader in goals with seven and second in points with eight, through the teams first three games...Erica Evans led the team in draw controls with three, while also adding an assist...Evans is tied for the team lead in draw controls with Maloney at 11...Evans also leads the team in points with nine... Stewart and Giglio are tied for third on the team in points with seven after each scored in the contest.
