The Canisius women's lacrosse team was defeated by "Battle of the Bridge" foe Niagara, 10-7, Friday in Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference play at Niagara Field in Lewiston, N.Y. Canisius junior Katie Smolensky scored a career-high four goals in the contest to pace the Golden Griffins (1-6, 1-6 MAAC). Freshman Riley Davis once again found the back of the net twice, her fourth consecutive contest with multiple scores. Senior Marissa Malvaso posted a goal and an assist for the Blue and Gold. The Purple Eagles (4-3, 4-3 MAAC) were paced by Rachel Wager's hat trick. Teammates Lexi Braniecki, Rachel Crane and Alexandra Leo all scored two goals apiece to boost the Niagara attack. Canisius scored three of the first four goals of the contest, behind two Smolensky unassisted efforts and a score from Davis with the assist courtesy of Malvaso. Niagara answered with three-straight goals to take a 4-3 advantage over the Golden Griffins with 13:43 remaining in the first half. Davis' second score of the night would tie the matchup at 4-all, but Niagara would respond, taking a 5-4 edge heading into halftime. Coming out of the break, Niagara would continue their run, scoring the frame's first three goals to take a 8-4 lead with 12:35 remaining, their largest of the night. The Golden Griffins would respond with back-to-back goals from Malvaso and Smolensky to trim the deficit to two goals, 8-6. The Golden Griffins attempted to swing the momentum with Smolensky's fourth and final goal of the contest with 5:11 remaining, but Niagara would prevail, adding two goals late to defeat Canisius by three. Head Coach Allison Daley's Postgame Comments "I thought we competed better tonight then we did on Tuesday. Our defense made necessary adjustments and held our team in the game tonight. Lauren Gilbert had another strong performance in goal. We still did not play Canisius lacrosse for 60 minutes and when we don't consistently bring that, it is what has been preventing us from winning games this season. Right now we are not taking care of the little things, and that is hurting us." "Going into Sunday we need better production offensively and capitalize on our opportunities. With that, we need to bring another solid performance on the defensive end so we can put it all together. We need to look inward and find a way to be the team we know we can be." Game Notes • Canisius still holds the all-time series lead over Niagara 17-12. Prior to tonight, the Golden Griffins had won eight-straight matchups on the road versus Niagara. • With her two goal showing, freshman Riley Davis has scored multiple goals in five contests this season. • Marissa Malvaso extended her point streak to 22 contests. The Syracuse, N.Y., native has registered a point in 33 of the last 34 games for the Blue and Gold. The senior currently sits at 97 career points. • After posting four goals tonight, junior Katie Smolensky has posted multiple points in 15 career appearances for the Golden Griffins. The four scores were a career-high for the Rochester, N.Y., native. • With her 11 save showing, senior goaltender Lauren Gilbert has stopped 10-plus shot attempts in 10 career contests. Up Next The Blue and Gold return to action Sunday afternoon as they travel north to Lewiston to face Niagara for the third-straight contest. Game time is slotted for 1 p.m. and the contest can be streamed live on ESPN+.