ADRIAN, Mich. -- The Siena Heights women's lacrosse team fell to the second-ranked Cumberlands Patriots 17-6 in Monday afternoon's season-opening game. The Saints (0-1) finished the game 11-19 in clear attempts while also edging out the Patriots in ground balls 16-11.
Marissa Cirino was the leading scorer for SHU with two goals. Cirino totaled four shots on goal and scooped a ground ball in the losing effort. Hannah Merrick and Courtney Franfurth tallied a goal and an assist. Madison Spell and Emily Pringle each scored a goal for the Saints. Pringle and Lucy Stedham (L, 0-1) led the team with three ground balls.
Cumberlands started the scoring with a man-up tally at the 10:06 mark of the first quarter. The Patriots would add two more scores in the 15 minutes to take a 3-0 lead into the second quarter.
The visitors scored two additional goals in the second before Cirino put Siena on the board with an unassisted goal at the 8:36 mark of the second quarter. However, Cumberlands responded and took a 6-1 advantage into the half.
Cirino scored again to cut the deficit to 9-2 before Spell netted a man-up goal to bring things to 9-3. Two more scores from the Patriots put things at 11-3 as the third frame finished.
Merrick, Pringle, and Frankfurth rallied the Saints with three-straight scores to begin the fourth quarter and cut the margin to 11-6 with 13:29 left to play. Merrick dished a great pass on Frankfurth's goal to earn her assist. The final six scores of the game came from Cumberlands.
Up Next
The Saints play one final game in February with a road contest at NCAA Division III Hope College this Wednesday, February 23. The game against The Flying Dutch is set to begin at 6:00 p.m., EST.
