May 11, 2008
STANFORD, CALIF. - In a close back-and-forth game, the Marist women's water polo team fell to Pomona-Pitzer 7-6 in the seventh-place game of the 2008 NCAA Women's Water Polo Championships on Sunday at the Avery Aquatic Center. The Red Foxes end the season 27-10. Senior driver Maggie Hatcher (Evanston, Ill.) led Marist with three goals.
"It's a privilege to come to the NCAAs. It's a great experience. I'm very proud of the girls and what they did this season," said head coach Ashleigh Jacobs following Sunday's game.
Pomona-Pitzer (18-13) got on the board first with a goal 18 seconds in by Tamara Perea. The Red Foxes quickly answered back as sophomore Samantha Swartz (Harleysville, Pa.) shot the ball into the cage with 7:10 left in the first quarter to tie the game at one. The Sagehens had three man-up chances to break the tie in the first half, but the Red Foxes' defense anchored by senior goalie Elizabeth Davis (Albuquerque, N.M.) snuffed those out.
The game remained even until the 5:48 mark of the second quarter when Perea scored her second goal of the game to give Pomona-Pitzer a 2-1 lead. Marist answered back with Hatcher's first tally of the game with 3:46 left in the half to tie the game at two. The Sagehens quickly took the lead right back, scoring 14 seconds later to take a 3-2 lead, which they took into halftime.
Marist scored first in the third quarter as Hilary Schroeder (Santa Barbara, Calif.) tied the game with 7:12 left in the quarter with a man-up goal. Just as in the first half, Pomona-Pitzer responded and in a big way. The Sagehens scored three straight goals to take a 6-3 lead with 3:42 to go in the third. The Red Foxes were not deterred, as Kristen Barnett (Houston, Texas) got Marist within two, 6-4, with her first goal of the tournament at the 3:20 mark of the third.
After a defensive start to the fourth, Hatcher scored her second goal of the game to get the Red Foxes within a goal at 6-5 with 4:56 left in the game. Pomona-Pitzer would get the lead back to two with a goal from Laura Condon with 4:38 left to take a 7-5 lead. Marist got back to within a goal on Hatcher's third tally when she scored man-up with 1:05 left in the game to make the score 7-6. The Red Foxes had two chances late in the game to force overtime but could not find the back of the net.
Davis made 11 saves in net for Marist while Sagehens goalie Elena Peifer had 10 saves. Swartz led the Red Foxes with eight shots. Schroeder, Barnett, and Hatcher each had four.
The Red Foxes end the 2008 season with a program-record 27 wins against 10 losses, and return 18 players for next season.
