POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. - The Red Foxes continued their winning ways at home under Head Coach Kate Lyn with a dominate 2-0 victory over Binghamton on Friday night. Now, unbeaten in 11 straight games at Tenney Stadium going back to 2011 (10-0-1), Marist used goals by Rycke Guiney (Naperville, Ill.) and Marjana Maksuti (Delmar, N.Y.) and a shutout in goal by Caitlin Landsman (Burke, Va.) to win the Red Foxes' annual Breast Cancer Awareness Pink Out game before a crowd of over 1,500 fans.
Binghamton came to Poughkeepsie as an imposing squad with a 6-2 record and a 13-6 goal advantage. Marist quickly made that a 13-7 margin as just 2:33 into the contest, freshman Alysa Murphy (Douglasville, Pa.) served a ball in from the left wing to junior Alycia Cartica (Pleasant Valley, N.Y.), who uncorked a shot on Binghamton's goalkeeper Carrie Martin. Getting a hand on the hard shot, Martin deflected the ball towards a waiting Rycke Guiney, who deposited the ball into the back of the net. With the goal, Guiney moved into sole possession of fifth place on Marist's all-time scoring list with 43 career points.
The Red Foxes had two other dangerous scoring chances in the first half. In both cases, junior Samantha Panzner (Livingston, N.J.) was the facilitator. In the 14th minute, Panzner made a cross in from the wing to a charging Maksuti, who volleyed a shot just wide of the net. Panzner's second scoring drive in the 29th minute culminated with a senior Jackie Frey (Monroe, N.Y.) shot on goal that required a horizontal diving save by Martin.
Binghamton mounted a few strong offensive possessions in the first half, mainly off of free kick restarts. In each and every instance, the defensive corps of: Landsman in net, and Jessica Arabia (Naperville, Ill.), Chelsea Botta (East Longmeadow, Mass.), Melanie Rigo (Huntington, N.Y.), Kylee McIntosh (Cheshire, Conn.) and Marissa Mertens (Hicksville, N.Y.) denied the Bearcats. In one 38 second span in the final five minutes of the half, a Brittany Walsh free kick and Conor O'Brien corner kick reception required saves by Landsman.
At the half, Marist held a 6-4 advantage in shots and a 3-2 lead in shots on goal.
After the break, the loud and passionate crowd was treated to another quality 45 minutes of action. Binghamton tested Marist initially as Connie Gormley sent two strong shots off of restarts towards the goal in the opening 10 minutes of the second period.
Coming out of those two scoring opportunities unscathed, the Red Foxes look to create a more comfortable margin on the scoreboard. In the 57th minute, they did that when Maksuti netted her second career goal. The drive began with a looping cross in from the right wing by sophomore Amanda Epstein (Jericho, N.Y.), who found Maksuti for a header attempt that rang off of the left post. Unfazed, Maksuti collected her rebound and volleyed the ball in for the tally.
Marist could have made it 3-0 in the 65th minute off of a Guiney free kick from 35 yards out. The strong-legged junior put a ball into the box, where a leaping Mertens sent it towards net with a header. After a deflection, Frey came away with the ball and an opportunity to score; unfortunately, she pushed her shot just wide into the side netting of the Binghamton goal.
The final 25 minutes closed with each team failing to put together many lengthy offensive possessions as the defenses tightened up and held each squad to just one shot on goal.
After 90 minutes of action, the Red Foxes were back on the winning side with a 2-0 shutout. With the win, Marist improved to 6-4, while Binghamton fell to 6-3.
For the game, Marist outshot Binghamton 14-11, with a 5-4 advantage in shots on goal and 7-2 margin on corner kicks. Landsman earned her second shutout of the season and eighth of her career.
Prior to the contest, the Marist Athletic Department and Women's Soccer team recognized a number of special guests, who helped make Friday's Breast Cancer Awareness Pink Out Game a great success. Guests included breast cancer survivors, members of the Miles of Hope Breast Cancer Foundation, as well as students of Marist College, who gave their time and effort to promoting and making the event possible.
The Red Foxes close their non-conference regular season schedule on Sunday, Sept. 23 versus Temple at 4 p.m. This match will be the second game of a men's and women's soccer doubleheader, as the men began at 1:30 p.m. versus Yale.
