LEXINGTON, Va. – The Marist Water Polo team kept its momentum going after a six-win California Spring Break trip with a 2-0 showing on the opening day of MAAC play at VMI. The Red Foxes defeated St. Francis (N.Y.) 19-8 in the first match of the day and followed it up with a 13-6 decision over the host Keydets. Sophomore Hannah Levien (Davis, Calif.) and freshman Ellie Hoffman (Pasadena, Calif.) led Marist's offense on Saturday with six goals a piece over the two games. In goal, junior Rebecca Thomas (Cape Town, South Africa) made 15 combined saves in six quarters of action.
GAME 1 MARIST 19 – ST. FRANCIS (N.Y.) 8:
In their first game of the day, the Red Foxes jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead over the Terriers less than two minutes into the contest. Seniors Robyn Crabtree (Cutler Bay, Fla.) and Shelby Rinker (Lansdale, Pa.) registered the early goals for Marist.
After St. Francis fought back to tie the game at 2-2 with 3:49 left in the first quarter, the Red Foxes would go on an 8-0 unanswered goal run that would stretch from 1:41 in the first through 1:15 in the second. Levien led the way during this span with a team-high three goals scored. Other goal scorers for Marist included: Hoffman, Crabtree, Jessica Hamby (Sacramento, Calif.), Alison Hamby (Sacramento, Calif.) and Rinker.
Up 10-3 at halftime, Marist would extend its lead to nine at 12-3 with two goals in quick succession by Hoffman and Levien in the opening two minutes of play in the third quarter.
The freshman Hoffman would net her third and final goal of the third quarter at 4:01 to give Marist a 14-5 lead.
Senior Mackenzie Maynes (Newcastle, Wash.) beat the buzzer with a goal at 0:01 to send the Red Foxes into the fourth quarter up 15-6.
Marist continued showing its dominance in the final period by outscoring the Terriers 4-2. Jessica Hamby, Brooke Else (Lansdale, Pa.), Maynes and Heather Fellmeth (North Wales, Pa.) all notched scores in the fourth.
Besides, scoring two goals, Rinker led the Red Foxes with four assists. She was followed closely by Levien and Anna-Lena Hathaway (Pasadena, Calif.), who recorded three helpers each.
Defensively, Thomas made seven saves in goal in her three periods of action. She was aided by Else, who had a team-high four steals; Jessica Hamby and Hathaway were second with three steals a piece.
GAME 2 MARIST 13 – VMI 6:
Coming off of their strong performance in Game One, the Red Foxes had no let-down in their second game of the day versus VMI.
Marist jumped out to a commanding 4-0 lead over VMI in the first quarter with goals from four different players, Crabtree, Jessica Hamby, Hoffman and Hathaway.
After a Keydet goal made it 4-1 just 20 seconds into the second period, the Red Foxes would go on a 3-0 run to push their lead out to six at 7-1. Similar to the first scoring run, different Red Foxes would score as Rinker, Maynes and Yuriria Chavez (Chicago, Ill.) all netted goals.
A trading of points down the stretch in the first half made the score 8-2 at the intermission. Crabtree was Marist's final goal scorer of the half.
In the third quarter, scoring was kept rather low as the teams only registered a combined three goals; two for Marist and one for VMI. Rinker and Alison Hamby were credited with the Red Foxes' tallies.
Up 10-3 at the beginning of the fourth quarter, Marist cruised to its second win of the day by scoring three more goals in the final period. Levien (2) and Hoffman would add Marist's insurance markers to make the final score 13-6.
Outside of notching a first quarter goal, Jessica Hamby finished her game with a team-high three assists. Crabtree, Hathaway and Hoffman all finished with two helpers each.
Defensively, Thomas made eight saves in goal in three periods of play. Alison and Jessica Hamby tied for the team lead with two steals, respectively.
The Red Foxes will next be in action next Saturday at Villanova for their second day of MAAC round robin play. On March 30, they'll take on Iona starting at 1:00 pm. and Wagner at 5:30 p.m.
