Women's Lacrosse Falls Short at Rider

Box Score Elena Bontatibus notched a game-high eight points to pace Rider in a 16-12 victory over Canisius in Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference women's lacrosse action Saturday at Ben Cohen Field in Lawrenceville, N.J.

Bontatibus finished with four goals and four assists as the Broncos (5-9, 1-5 MAAC) grabbed their first conference win of the season. Katie Walsh chipped in five goals and was credited with 10 draw controls. Jamie Kubach made 10 saves on 22 shots to earn the victory between the pipes for the home team.

Sophomore Maddie Fitzgerald scored four times and freshman Katie Adams chipped in a hat trick for the Golden Griffins (5-9, 2-4 MAAC). Junior Ava Pezzimenti scooped up a career-high five ground balls.

Rider trailed 1-0 early before responding with three unanswered goals to grab the lead midway through the first quarter. Fitzgerald netted her first goal of the afternoon to end the Rider run before both sides traded two goals each before the end of the first quarter to give Rider a 5-4 edge after one.

The teams continued to trade tallies to open the second quarter before a player-up goal from Toni Gismondi sparked a 5-1 stretch for the Broncs that closed out the first half and staked them to an 11-6 advantage.

Canisius struck first out of the intermission when Fitzgerald completed the hat trick only to have Rider respond with three straight goals to take its largest lead of the contest, 14-7, with 8:27 to play in the third.

A trio of goals from sophomore Megan Previdi, junior Maggie Tifft and senior Hailey Rooney narrowed the Canisius deficit to 14-10 going into the final quarter of play.

The Griffs continued to battle, netting two of the first three goals of the fourth quarter to cut the margin to three with less than four minutes to play. Madison Rothwein closed the door on a Canisius comeback, however, tallying her 13th goal of the season to cement the Broncs four-goal victory.

GAME NOTES
• Wednesday's game was the second all-time meeting between the two programs. The loss marked the first for Canisius against Rider since the Broncs added women's lacrosse as a Division I sport prior to the 2024 season.
• Adams tallied three-or-more goals in a game for the third time this season as she reached the 20-goal plateau for the season.
• Fitzgerald tied her season high for goals for the second consecutive time and fourth this season with her four-goal performance.
• Canisius outscored Rider 6-5 in the second half.
• Previdi recorded the two assists to extend her consecutive games with an assist streak to 13.
• Both sides converted 18 out of their 19 clears.

UP NEXT
Canisius concludes their 2025 road schedule at Quinnipiac on Wednesday. Opening draw in Hamden, Conn. is slated for 3 p.m.

FOLLOW THE GRIFFS
Be sure to follow the Canisius women's lacrosse team on social media:
Twitter - '@GoGriffs' and '@CanisiusWLAX'
Instagram - '@GoGriffs' and '@CanisiusWLAX'
Facebook - 'Canisius Athletics'
YouTube - 'GoGriffs'

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Players Mentioned

#6 Maddie Fitzgerald: M; 5' 9"; Sophomore

#11 Megan Previdi: A; 5' 5"; Sophomore

#27 Hailey Rooney: M; 5' 4"; Senior

#22 Maggie Tifft: A; 5' 9"; Junior

#14 Ava Pezzimenti: D; 5' 4"; Junior

#25 Katie Adams: A; 5' 8"; Freshman

Players Mentioned

#6 Maddie Fitzgerald
: 5' 9"; Sophomore
: M

#11 Megan Previdi
: 5' 5"; Sophomore
: A

#27 Hailey Rooney
: 5' 4"; Senior
: M

#22 Maggie Tifft
: 5' 9"; Junior
: A

#14 Ava Pezzimenti
: 5' 4"; Junior
: D

#25 Katie Adams
: 5' 8"; Freshman
: A