April 1, 2006

Final Stats

Poughkeepsie, N.Y. - Senior captain Tara Mullins (Holmdel, N.J.) recorded three goals to lead Marist to a 7-6 victory over Siena in its first MAAC contest of the season. The Red Foxes improved to 2-6 overall and 1-0 in the MAAC while the Saints stumbled to 1-8/0-2 MAAC. Four different Foxes scored in a balanced effort, coming back from a 5-3 halftime deficit to take the 7-6 victory. Sophomore Liz Burkhard (Wantagh, N.Y.) was dynamic in goal, snagging 13 saves.

Siena got on the board first when Michelle Eide converted off a Niki Burger pass at 25:40. Mullins quickly answered with her first goal of the game three minutes later, assisted by sophomore Val Amodeo (Northport, N.Y.). The seesaw continued as Siena's Lynn Harkins regained the lead for her squad at 16:32, but Marist rookie Stephanie Garland (Long Valley, N.J.) scored at 14:33 to knot it at 2-2.

The Saints tallied a pair of unassisted goals during the next minute and a half to go up 4-2 on the Foxes at 13:08. Marist's Ali Carnabuci (Albertson, N.Y.) found the back of the net after a timely pass from classmate Lindsey Diener (Nanuet, N.Y.) at 9:28 to pull the home team within one. Siena's Christina Pampalone snuck in a late goal with just four seconds on the clock to put her team up 5-3 at the half.

The Red Foxes came out on fire in the second, scoring the first three goals of the half to take a 6-5 lead. Mullins scored twice in the first three minutes of the half, once unassisted and once off a pass from Carnabuci. With the game tied at 5-5, Carnabuci made a nice move from behind the cage to give the Foxes their first lead at 25:24, up 6-5. The game quieted down for much of the rest of the half, as Marist tried to maintain its lead. Siena's Harkins scored her third goal of the game at 9:24 off a pass from Kathryn Marcantonio to tie the contest.

Less than two minutes later, Diener, a sophomore captain, came up big for Marist, converting a free position shot for the game-winning goal at 7:58. With a 7-6 lead, the Red Foxes made a tremendous defensive stand over the closing minutes, controlling the ball on both ends of the field. Siena caused a turnover late in the game and was pushing for a late goal. Sophomore Caitlin Bergin (Rumson, N.J.) made one of the biggest stops of the day, forcing a turnover by the Saints and grabbing a ground ball to secure possession for Marist in the closing seconds.

Carnabuci, Diener and Mullins all had three points each on offense for the Red Foxes. Kelsey Haggett (Glastonbury, Conn.) and Jessica O'Brien (Wantagh, N.Y.) paced Marist's defensive efforts with four caused turnovers each and five and four ground balls each, respectively. It was another well-rounded effort by Marist as 13 players had at least one ground ball, eight took a shot and seven had a caused turnover.

Siena was led by Harkins' three-goal effort while Sarah Elliot added three ground balls. Bethany Zimmer had seven saves in goal.

The Red Foxes are back in action on Sunday when they host MAAC foe LeMoyne at 1:00 p.m.