The Canisius women's lacrosse team continued its winning ways this afternoon against Iona, defeating the Gaels 16-3, to become the 2016 MAAC Regular Season Champions, clinching the No. 1 seed in the MAAC Tournament.
With the win, the Griffs move to 10-5, with a perfect 7-0 MAAC record, all while winning eight consecutive games.
"Winning the regular season title and getting to host the tournament is a great achievement for our girls," said head coach Scott Teeter. "It's something they've been working hard all season for and it's great to see the hard work pay off."
The Golden Griffins put together a total team effort for the win, with five different players reaching double digit goals.
Sophomore Erica Evans led the team with six, while senior Taylor Giglio added three with an assist. Sophomore Lauren Smolensky netted two with two assists, along with freshmen Tessa Chad and Jourdan Roemer who netted three and two respectively. Roemer added four assists to her impressive day (a new career high), tying Evans for most points on the day at six (also a career high).
"Today we put together a great team win," Teeter said. "We played a balanced game and did a good job of getting everyone going offensively.
"Rebecca played a great game in net and really stood her own. She would be the first one to tell you how well the defense played in front of her, to help her play the way she did."
Evans scored her 53rd goal of the season, tying her for the fourth most goals scored in a season by a Griff with Whitney Card and Chelsea Martinez. The midfielder has now scored five or more times in seven games this year.
The Blue and Gold continued their streak of hot starts, scoring the games' first three goals, while taking a 10-1 lead to the half.
Scoring for the Griffs in the first half were Evans (3), Giglio (2), Chad (2), Roemer (2) and Smolensky (1).
To begin the second half the narrative remained the same. Canisius once again scored the first three goals (each from Evans) to go up 13-1 in the first five minutes. Iona would answer with their second goal of the game several minutes later, but the Griffs defense clamped down, allowing only one more goal, with Canisius adding three more for a 16-3 final.
Aside from her offensive outburst, Evans led the team in draw controls (3), caused turnovers (3) and ground balls (4).
Sophomore goalkeeper Rebecca VanLaeken recorded her second highest save total of the season (11), while moving her overall record to 10-4 on the year.
The Golden Griffins clinched the MAAC Regular Season Title for the third time in team history (2013 and 2015) with the victory.
The Griffs will look to close out the season on high note, when they travel to Lewiston, N.Y. this Wednesday Apr. 27 to take on Niagara at 7 p.m., followed by the rescheduled postponement against Syracuse, which will completed on May 3 at 4:30 p.m.
Upon the completion of the regular season, the Golden Griffins will host the MAAC Tournament from the Demske Sports Complex, beginning with the semi-finals on Friday May 6.
Game Notes: Giglio recorded her 50th point of the season in the contest, the third time she has achieved the mark… Evans reached the 50 goal mark in the game, the seventh time the feat has been accomplished at Canisius… Roemer recorded career highs in both assists (4) and points (6), tied for the team high on the day…The freshman also surpassed the thirty point mark for the season, with teammate Chad reaching the same milestone in the win… Chad has now recorded ten multi-goal games in her freshman campaign… Smolensky and sophomore Nicole Nelson were second on the team in ground balls with three… Senior Sami Franco was second on the team in draw controls with two, setting a personal season high mark with seven… The Blue and Gold remain perfect against the Gaels all-time, with a career 12-0 record… The team has scored at least 12 goals in its last eight contests (all wins)… The Griffs have totaled 123 goals while giving up 47 during the win streak…The Griffs are now 4-4 on the road this season... The Griffs were undefeated in both 2013 and 2015 in MAAC play as they look to match the feat this coming Wednesday.
