Lacrosse snaps losing streak at six, takes down Canisius

By Sarah F. Griffin

Rider lacrosse’s six-game losing streak ended, as after a loss against Sacred Heart on April 9, the team then beat Canisius at home on April 12.

Late start, little push

Going into the Bronc’s matchup against Sacred Heart, Rider had a record of 4-9 in the regular season and 0-4 in Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference play.

The game on April 9 started with five goals by the Pioneers before senior attacker Selena Carrington scored a goal off an assist from freshman attacker Elizabeth Shean with just under two minutes left to play in the first quarter.

The Pioneers started the second quarter with a goal before senior attacker Toni Gismoldi shot a goal with another assist from Shean.

After another goal for the Pioneers, the Broncs shot back-to-back goals, the first by graduate student attacker Anna Devlin with an assist from junior redshirt midfielder Addy Haines and the second shot by Carrington.

The Pioneers shot another goal and the Broncs answered with a goal shot by junior attacker Katie Walsh. 

The Pioneers scored two more goals, ending the game with a score of 10-5, another Broncs loss.

Broncs win after six-game losing streak

The Broncs defeated the Canisius Golden Griffins at home on April 12, making their record 5-9 in the regular season and 1-4 in MAAC action.

Head Coach Evan Mager said, “This is one of the first games in a while that our draw, our goalie, our offense, our defense had really good long moments of all playing at the same level. … We’re very dangerous when that happens.”

The game started with a goal for Canisius but then Rider came back with three straight goals, one from Walsh with an assist from sophomore midfielder Elena Bontatibus, the second from Bontatibus with an assist from Devlin and the third from Bontatibus unassisted.

Another goal by the Golden Griffins was answered with one goal by Shean and another goal by Walsh.

After Canisius scored another two goals at the end of the first quarter, Bontatibus started the second quarter with a goal.

“Our defense killed it today,” Bontatibus said. “I think our defense did a better job than their defense.”

Canisius came back with a goal before Gismoldi scored with an assist from Bontatibus.

Quickly after that, Carrington scored a goal, which the Golden Griffins responded to by scoring a goal.

Marissa Ross, a senior draw specialist, said, “We haven’t been playing quite like ourselves the past few games so [we] decided to put in some extra work this week [and] really focus on the things we’re good at.”

The Broncs then scored another three straight goals with the first coming from Walsh and an assist from Gismoldi, the second coming from Carington and the third coming from Devlin with an assist from Gismoldi.

Canisius started the third period with a score, then Gismoldi and Walsh each had unassisted goals, before Walsh scored with an assist from Bontatibus.

The Golden Griffins scored three more goals to end the third period and one goal to start the fourth period before Bontatibus scored again.

Canisius scored one more goal before freshman midfielder Madison Rothwein scored the game-ending goal with assistance from Bontatibus.

Ross said the team had a plan for continued success during the rest of the season: “We all really want to work to get these last two wins now and we have a mindset of going in and playing our hearts out every single day and practicing endgames.”