April 30, 2011

POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. - The Marist water polo team (19-21) fell to Wagner (17-14) in a dramatic MAAC Semi-Final by a score of 11-10. In a game with nine ties, a goal by Lauren French with 21 seconds remaining in the sudden victory period eliminated the Red Foxes from championship contention. Junior Desiree Desaulniers (Orlando, Fla.) was the leading scorer for the Marist as she netted five including the game-tying goal with 14 seconds left in regulation to tie the game at 9-9.

The Red Foxes jumped out to an early 2-0 on goals by Desaulniers at 7:32 and senior Agnes Konopka (Simi Valley, Calif.) at 3:37. The Seahawks closed the quarter with two goals to send the game into the second at 2-2.

Wagner took their first lead of the game at 4:23 off a Natalie Pyrz goal. Less than a minute later, Konopka answered to tie the game at three at 3:45. Both teams went scoreless over the rest of the period to go into half at 3-3.

In the third, the teams exchanged seven goals with Wagner holding a 4-3 advantage. Goal scorers for Marist included: junior Jaclyn Puccino (San Diego, Calif.), senior Rosie Pauli (Sacramento, Calif.) and Desaulniers, who's second goal of the game gave the Red Foxes the lead again at 6-5 with 1:46 remaining. Two late Wagner goals, including one at the horn made the score 7-6, in favor of the Seahawks.

Marist wasted no time in tying the game back up as Desaulniers scored 18 seconds into the period. The Seahawks fired back 20 seconds later at 7:22 to jump ahead by one again. Realizing an advantage down low, the Red Foxes continued feeding Desaulniers, who was positioning herself inside the 5-meter area. She netted her second consecutive goal at 5:56. Wagner took the lead again with their ninth goal of the game at 3:33. After a frantic three minutes of comeback attempts, it all came down to one last possession. Coming out of a timeout, Desaulniers scored the game-tying goal with 14 seconds left on the clock. After 32 minutes of play, the score was deadlocked at 9-9.

In overtime, Wagner notched a goal with 43 seconds remaining in the first period. After the break to change ends of the pool, Marist was faced with having to overcome a one-goal deficit with one final three minute period to play. Pauli tied it up for the Red Foxes with a goal at 1:38. The final 98 seconds of went by without another point scored as freshman goalie Alexis Solaro (Rancho Palos Verde, Calif.) made another huge save for the Red Foxes. In the contest, she made 13 stops.

Faced with a sudden victory situation, the teams were cautious with each and every one of their possessions. Marist nearly missed netting the game-winner twice as they had two near misses off the crossbar. With 21 seconds remaining in the period, Wagner scored to win 11-10 and advance to the MAAC championship tomorrow afternoon versus Iona.

Marist will close out the MAAC Championships tomorrow with a matchup versus St. Francis (N.Y.) in the third place game that is scheduled for 12 p.m.

Marist-Wagner Line Score

Marist: 2-1-3-3-0-1-0=10

Wagner: 2-1-4-2-1-0-1=11

Marist Goals: Desaulniers 5, Pauli 2, Konopka 2, Puccino 1

Wagner Goals: French 4, Beck 3, Pyrz 2, Giles 1, Vanderbent 1

Marist Saves: Solaro 13

Wagner Saves: Karbach 5