ST. BONAVENTURE, N.Y. – A fourth quarter comeback attempt fell just short for the St. Bonaventure women's lacrosse team on a frigid day at the Marra Athletics Complex. Down one to Little Three rival Niagara in the waning seconds, Bona freshman Hannah West caused a turnover behind the visitors goal, giving Tori Nascimento a clean look at cage; however, the Niagara goalie made a brilliant save to preserve the Purple Eagles' 6-5 victory.
 
Brooke Piper led the way offensively for Bona, scoring three goals and recording three draw controls.
 
Katelyn Hicks made nine saves with a .600 save percentage.

St. Bonaventure led in most stat categories including shots (31-19) and draw controls (11-4), but the difference was Niagara's Hailey Terry who made 16 saves in the cage.
 
The Bonnies (1-2) got on the board first at 9:32 in the first as Piper found the back of the cage on a feed from Rylee Gonzalez.
 
Niagara (1-1) responded with two goals in the opening stanza. Both squads were held scoreless in the second quarter. Hicks made three saves in the second while Niagara goalie Haley Terry made five to send the game into intermission with Niagara leading 2-1.
 
The Purple Eagles took what seemed to be a commanding lead after the break, scoring the next three goals to go up 5-1 with 13:39 to play in the fourth quarter.
 
Piper ended the drought for the Brown and White, picking up the groundball from a saved shot off the stick of Sidney Van Tassel and netting her second of the game.
 
Grace Hollenbeck continued a scoring run for Bona's netting a high shot. Fiona McGovern was credited with the assist.
 
The Bonnies cut the deficit to one as Van Tassel intercepted a pass from Niagara on a clear attempt and gave the Bonnies possession with 10:09 to play. McGovern capitalized on the turnover, scoring through a swell of Purple Eagles to put the Bonnies down one with 9:11 remaining in regulation.
 
Bona's controlled the draw following the McGovern goal, but the Bonnies were stopped from tying the game as Terry made her 14^th save of the contest, denying McGovern on a free position opportunity.
 
The Purple Eagles extended the lead back to two with 4:39 remaining on a goal from Maddy Gill, her fifth of the game.
 
The following draw was controlled by Niagara, but Hicks made a save and the Bonnies charged down field. Piper was awarded a free position opportunity and converted to complete the hat trick and put the Bonnies within one with 3:04 to play.
 
Despite controlling the next draw, the Bonnies turned the ball over, giving Niagara possession with 1:30 left in regulation. The Purple Eagles failed their clear attempt as Olivia Peeler intercepted a pass and found Gonzalez with an open lane to the cage; however, Gonzalez was bothered by Niagara's Sydney Huhtala, causing her to turn the ball over.
 
Niagara called a timeout with 29 seconds remaining, looking to put the game on ice. Hannah Kent got the ball out of the time out and dashed behind her own cage, hoping to run the clock out. West caused the turnover and Nascimento picked up the groundball, but couldn't send the game to overtime.
 
QUOTES FROM HEAD COACH LEIGHANN STAUFFER
"That game was not an accurate representation of our team. We fought back in the 4th quarter but it was too late. It's good to know we have that in us, but we never should've been in that situation to begin with."

"Niagara's goalie played a great game, we definitely have to give her that but we're glad we learned this lesson early. We still have a long season ahead of us and if I know our team, they will never want to feel like this again."

UP NEXT
The Bonnies wrap up the four game homestand Wednesday as they host Binghamton. Opening draw is set for 3:00 p.m. 
 
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