The Canisius College women's lacrosse team cruised to victory on Friday night over Iona, 19-7. The Griffs improve to 6-7 on the season and remain unbeaten in conference play with a 2-0 MAAC record.

"I thought we battled hard for a complete 60 minutes tonight in difficult weather conditions," said Canisius head coach Scott Teeter. "It was great to see our team fight and control the game right down to the final buzzer."

Senior Chelsea Martinez (Bethpage, N.Y.) tallied four goals on the night and led the Griffs with four caused turnovers. The senior became the third Griff in school history to record her 100th career goal. Martinez also added two draw controls to tie the program's record with her 114th career draw control.

"It is great to see all of Chelsea's hard work pay off," Teeter said. "She has had a great season and is very deserving of these accomplishments and records."

Senior Ashley Gray (Baldwinsville, N.Y.) led the Griffs with eight points, matching a career high with six goals and posting two assists. Junior Brett Poissant (Syracuse, N.Y.) tallied a hat trick, while sophomore Taylor Gray (Baldwinsville, N.Y.) posted a season-best four points on a goal and a game-high three assists.

Junior Marissa Brown (Syracuse, N.Y.), sophomores Ashley Curtis (Peterborough, Ontario) and Jackie Loson (Newark, N.Y.) and freshmen Megan Oosting (Lakefield, Ontario) and Kristy Wilensky (Syracuse, N.Y.) rounded out the scoring for the Griffs with a goal apiece.

Sophomore Allison Daley (Peterborough, Ontario) stopped four shots in goal to earn the victory.

The Griffs started the game strong and never looked back. After the score was knotted at one, Poissant sparked a 5-0 Canisius run, scoring all three of her goals to start to give the Griffs a 4-1 lead. Loson and Curtis followed to stretch Canisius' advantage to five. Both teams would tally three more goals in the first half to head into intermission with the Griffs leading, 9-4.

Canisius continued to dominate in the second half, scoring three of the first four goals in the period and jumping to a 12-5 advantage. After both teams tallied two goals, the Griffs finished the game on a 5-0 run to earn the 19-7 victory.

The Griffs held an advantage in shots, 30-17, draw controls, 15-13, and ground balls, 20-17. Caitlyn Collins led the Gaels with four goals, while Colleen Magri and Carlee Street combined for six saves in net.

Canisius returns to action on Sunday, hosting MAAC foe Manhattan. The Senior Day contest is set to begin at the Demske Sports Complex at 10 a.m.

Game Notes: Martinez joins Ashley Gray and former teammate Whitney Card as the only Griffs to score 100 career goals ... Martinez 114 career draw controls ties the school record set by Erica Nasca ... Ashley Gray scored six goals for the third time in her career and for the second time this season ... The Griffs have won the draw control battle in 11-of-13 games this season ... Canisius has won all five meetings against Iona ... Poissant has tallied eight points (7g, 1a) in the last three games after recording four points in the first 10 games of the season (1g, 3a).

2009-04-04