April 24, 2009
Box Score
NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y. - Fueled by a 7-4 second half, the third-seeded Marist women's lacrosse team advanced to the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) Championship for the third straight year as they upset the second-seeded Canisius Golden Griffins. The final score of the match was 13-11. Junior Lauren Ciccarello (Wantagh, N.Y.) led the Red Foxes and all scorers with four goals, while senior Kate Noftsker (Needham, Mass.) added three more goals to contribute to the Marist offense.
After trailing for the second portion of the first half, Marist reclaimed the lead with 12:19 to play in the second half on a Stephanie Garland (Long Valley, N.J.) goal, her only marker of the game. It gave the Red Foxes am 11-10 lead, their first since 5-4. Senior Cristin Begley (Brookville, Md.) scored off a Noftsker pass 3:09 later to take a 12-10 lead. Begley's second goal of the game capped a 4-0 run for Marist. She had three draw controls to lead the Red Foxes in the match.
The Golden Griffins cut the lead to one goal at 12-11 when Chelsea Martinez scored her third of the game; however, the Red Foxes would respond with a goal of their own to reclaim the two goal margin at 13-11, when Noftsker notched her third goal of the game. Noftsker's goal was assisted by junior Erin Wilson (Ada, Mich.).
Canisius and Marist traded goals for the first five markers of the match to give the Golden Griffins and early 3-2 advantage with 19:10 to play in the first half.
The Red Foxes then ripped a streak of three consecutive goals as Ciccarello scored her second goal of the half on a free position shot with 18:48 to play in the half. Noftsker and Ciccarello would score during the 1:30 stretch to earn Marist a 5-3 lead with 17:25 to play in the frame.
Canisius responded with four straight goals of its own to take a 7-5 lead with 1:20 to play in the half. Noftsker concluded the scoring in the first half as she found the back of the net for her 27th goal of the season to pull the Red Foxes within one, 7-6 at the break.
Senior Carolyn Sumcizk (Syosset, N.Y.) finished the game with a tied for the team high in ground balls with four along with junior Morgan Dillon (Freeport, N.Y.). Sumcizk also had two caused turnovers.
In goal for Marist, freshman Kelsey Thoms (Newark, N.Y.) made seven first half saves en route to a total of nine saves in her first career post season game.
Marist will face Fairfield in the championship match on Sunday at noon. The Red Foxes will appear in their third straight MAAC Championship game. Earlier in the day the Stags advanced to the title game as they defeated fourth-seeded Manhattan 20-8 in the first semifinal matchup.
