LOUDONVILLE, N.Y. – The Marist water polo team (10-11, 2-0 MAAC) opened up Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference play with a 14-8 victory over VMI (6-10, 0-2 MAAC), and a 20-5 win over St. Francis (4-12, 0-1 MAAC) on Saturday afternoon.
Game One: Marist 14, VMI 8
Sophomore Amanda Amorosa (Montreal, QC) led the Red Foxes in scoring with four goals and two assists. Senior captain Anna-Lena Hathaway (South Pasadena, Calif.) added three goals and one assist. Senior Alison Hamby (Sacramento, Calif.) scored two goals and had one assist, while senior captain Hannah Levien (Davis, Calif.) contributed one goal and had a team-high four assists.
The Red Foxes got out to a quick start with a Hamby goal just 31 seconds into the match. Sophomore Jocelyn McQuade (Vancouver, BC) scored a goal at 5:47 to put the Red Foxes up 2-0. A goal from Hathaway, two from Amorosa and one from redshirt junior Ellie Hoffman (Pasadena, Calif.) gave Marist a 6-1 lead after the first quarter. Hathaway scored first in the second quarter grabbing her second goal of the game on a 5-meter penalty shot at the 7:03 mark. VMI scored the next two goals of the game before Amorosa would grab her third to bring the score to 8-3. Levien and junior captain Brooke Else (Lansdale, Pa.) scored goals in the final two minutes of the first half to give the Red Foxes a 10-4 lead at the break.
In a low scoring third quarter, Hamby and junior goalie Skyler Henry (San Diego, Calif.) were the only Red Foxes to find the back of the net. Henry scored her first goal of the season with just one second left in the third quarter. The score heading into the final quarter of play was 12-5. Marist was outscored 3-2 in the fourth quarter, with Amorosa scoring her fourth goal of the game and Hathaway her third to secure the win.
Junior goalie Henry made 16 saves in the win for Marist giving up seven goals against. Freshman goalie Jessica Hermosillo (La Mirada, Calif.) came into the game in the fourth quarter making one save and giving up one goal.
Game Two: Marist 20, St. Francis 5
The Red Foxes had 10 individuals tally at least one goal in a dominate performance over St. Francis. Sophomore Molly Shamieh (Sylmar, Calif.) led all scorers with a career-high five goals on five shot attempts. Amorosa had her second four-goal game of the day and had one assist. A. Hamby, Else, and sophomore Nastassia McGlothlin (Mission Viejo, Calif.) each contributed two goals in the contest. Hathaway had a team-high three assists.
The Red Foxes blanked the Terriers in the first quarter while putting up seven goals. A. Hamby scored the game's first goal 34 seconds into the match to put the Red Foxes up 1-0. Marist scored four goals in a two minute stretch to extend the lead to 5-0. Amorosa scored twice, while Hathaway and McGlothlin scored once in that time span. Goals from Shamieh and A. Hamby rounded out the scoring for the first quarter at 7-0. Goals from Else, Shamieh and Hoffman sent the Red Foxes into halftime with a commanding 10-2 lead.
Marist opened up the second half scoring another seven goals in the third quarter. Else scored her second goal of the game at the 6:35 mark, with freshman Alexa Ovalle (Chicago, Ill.) grabbing a goal a little over two minutes later. Two goals from Amorosa and Shamieh, and one from McGlothlin put the Red Foxes up 17-3 at the end of the third quarter. Senior Alison Hamby (Sacramento, Calif.) scored her only goal of the day, with Shamieh and senior Jamison Mahar (Riverside, Calif.) each grabbing a goal in the final three minutes of the game to finish out the scoring for the Red Foxes.
Henry gave up only one goal against while making three saves to pick up her second win of the day. Hermosillo made four saves and gave up four goals against.
The Red Foxes return to action on Sunday, March 22 when they return home to McCann Natatorium for senior day. First, the Red Foxes with play Villanova (13-9, 1-1 MAAC) at 10:30 a.m., before taking on Siena (7-10, 0-1 MAAC) in game two at 5:30 p.m.
