April 17, 2005

Final Stats

Poughkeepsie, NY - Freshman Lindsey Diener (Nanuet, NY) had three goals in today's contest, none bigger than her unassisted game-winner with 1:23 remaining in regulation. It was a back and forth battle throughout, with the Purple Eagles tying it up with 2:24 left in the contest. Senior captain Patricia Leahy (New Hyde Park, NY) came up with a huge defensive stop, getting the ball to Diener who charged down the field for the game-winner. With the win, Marist improves to 4-7 overall, 3-2 in the MAAC while Niagara drops to 5-4, 1-3 MAAC.

Senior Christine Connell (Westbury, NY) got the scoring started for Marist, finding the back of the net off a feed from Diener eight minutes into the game. Niagara's Emma-Lee Harrison scored the first of her four goals seven minutes later to knot the score a 1-1. The Foxes capitalized on back-to-back free position opportunities, as Diener and classmate Val Amodeo (Northport, NY) each recorded a goal, putting Marist ahead 3-1. Niagara scored three unanswered goals to close out the half with the 4-3 edge.

Marist came out quick off the draw in the second, with Diener tying the game at 28:15 in the period. Both squads took turns tying the game and taking leads, as Harrison took back the advantage, 5-4 for the Purple Eagles before Connell tied it up for Marist at 24:23. The offense was quiet for several minutes before Katie Gates regained the lead for Niagara, 6-5 with 18:58 left in the game. Connell tied the game again for Marist on a free position shot before classmate Lauren Serge (Albany, NY) gave Marist a critical lead at 11:59.

With Marist up 7-6, senior Lauren Sherman (Albany, NY) forced a turnover by the Niagara goalkeeper, which allowed Amodeo to nail her second goal of the day, giving Marist an 8-6 advantage. Following a timeout to regroup, Harrison and Elizabeth Johnson each scored for the Eagles to knot it up, 8-8. Diener's unassisted goal gave Marist the lead that they would not relinquish for the remainder of the contest. Connell won a critical and hotly contested draw control to give Marist possession in the closing minutes.

Harrison led all scorers with four goals while also recording three groundballs and three draw controls for Niagara. Diener had her seventh hat trick of the season while Connell recorded her second and Amodeo and Serge rounded out the scoring for Marist. Diener and Leahy led the Foxes with six groundballs each while Connell contributed five. Every Marist player had at least one groundball while eight of them had four or more. Erin Castor paced the Purple Eagles with three groundballs, two caused turnovers and two draw controls.

Marist senior Heather Ripp (Lake Ronkonkoma, NY) had another solid outing between the pipes, recording five saves while Niagara's Whitney Gill and Kristin Engle split time, combining for nine stops.

The Red Foxes will be back in action again on Wednesday April 20 when they host Lafayette in a non-conference match-up at 7:00 p.m. on Leonidoff Field.