PROVIDENCE, R.I. – The Marist water polo team stepped out of conference play on Friday, participating in the first day of the Brown Classic. The Red Foxes (17-10) defeated Brown 8-7 in a dramatic sudden death overtime victory before falling to third-ranked Arizona State 14-2.
GAME ONE, MARIST 8 - BROWN 7, SD-OT
Shelby Rinker (Lansdale, Pa.) scored the game-winning goal with 1:14 left in the first sudden death overtime period to give the Red Foxes an 8-7 win over the host Bears.
Rinker had a team-high three points as she also added two assists and Anna-Lena Hathaway (Pasadena, Calif.) and Hannah Levien (Davis, Calif.) each scored two goals. Alison Hamby (Sacramento, Calif.) also had a multi-point performance with a goal and an assist. Rebecca Thomas (Cape Town, South Africa) made a season-high 15 saves, including two on five-meter penalty shots.
The game was scoreless for the first several minutes before Brown drew first blood on a goal at 4:31.
Levien tied things up however at the 2:15 mark, burying a shot inside the near post after a pass from the far corner from Brooke Else. Just 50 seconds later, she scored her second, putting the Red Foxes ahead 2-1 with a “power play” tally.
After Brown pulled even with just 11 seconds left in the opening quarter, Hathaway scored her first of the game at the 5:56 mark of the second quarter to give Marist a 3-2 lead.
However, the Bears tied things back up at three after two quarters.
The Hamby twins teamed up in the third quarter as Alison scored on an assist from Rinker to put Marist back up 4-3 with 4:06 left in the period. After Brown again pulled even, Alison centered a pass to her sister Jessica Hamby (Sacramento, Calif.) who buried a low shot with just nine seconds on the clock to give the Red Foxes a 5-4 lead entering the fourth quarter.
Hathaway found the back of the net for her second goal just 1:58 into the fourth period, barely putting the ball past the outstretched fingers of the goalie to give Marist a two-goal lead.
Brown however scored twice to tie the score with 2:38 left.
The Bears took the lead just 24 seconds into the first three-minute overtime session.
Things looked grim for the Red Foxes as Brown was given a five-meter penalty shot with 41 seconds left in the first overtime session, but Thomas made a great save. On the ensuing possession, Ellie Hoffman (Pasadena, Calif.) took a pass from Rinker and put a low shot into the back of the net, just inside the near post, to knot things back up at seven with just nine seconds left on the clock.
Nobody scored in the second overtime session, sending the game into a sudden death period.
After both teams turned the ball over, Thomas came up with the biggest save of the game, diving across the mouth of the goal to make a last second stop following a cross-pool pass.
Rinker provided the heroics on the following possession.
GAME TWO, #3 ARIZONA STATE 14 - MARIST 2
Arizona scored just 12 seconds into the game and outscored a tired Red Foxes team 7-1 in each half.
Hathaway and Levien each scored for Marist. Thomas made four saves while playing the first half and Skyler Henry (San Diego, Calif.) played 11 minutes in the second half making three saves.
Marist returns to conference play on Saturday at the McCann Natatorium for a pair of Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) games against Siena at 10 a.m. and Villanova at 1 p.m. The Red Foxes will celebrate their six seniors with a Senior Day ceremony prior to the second game.
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