LEXINGTON, VIRGINIA – The Marist water polo team (15-12, 7-1 MAAC) defeated two Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference teams to improve to 7-1 in conference play. The Red Foxes defeated Villanova (16-13, 4-5 MAAC) 9-8 in game one, and downed Iona (17-9, 4-2 MAAC) 19-10 in game two on Sunday afternoon.
Game One: Marist 9, Villanova 8
Senior captain Anna-Lena Hathaway (South Pasadena, California) led all Red Foxes in scoring with four goals and one assist. Sophomore Amanda Amorosa (Montreal, Quebec) added two goals and one assist. Senior captain Hannah Levien (Davis, California), and seniors Jessica Hamby (Sacramento, California) and Alison Hamby (Sacramento, California) each had one goal.
Amorosa scored the first goal of the game 45 seconds in to give the Red Foxes a 1-0 lead. Villanova tied the game at one apiece, but two goals from Hathaway 39 seconds apart gave Marist a 3-1 lead. One more goal from Hathaway, to complete the quarter hat trick, and three goals from Villanova sent the game tied at 4-4 into the second quarter. Villanova took its first lead of the game off a goal 30 seconds into the second quarter. Hathaway scored her final goal of the day 13 seconds later to knot the game even at 5-5. One goal from Levien and one from the Wildcats send the game into halftime tied at 6-6.
Villanova scored the first goal of the third quarter to take the lead 7-6. A goal from J. Hamby and A. Hamby gave the Red Foxes a one goal lead heading into the final quarter of play. Amorosa extended the Marist lead to 9-7 at the 3:38 mark of the fourth. The Wildcats were able to net one more goal on the man advantage, but the Red Foxes held on to win 9-8.
Junior goalie Skyler Henry (San Diego, California) made 12 saves in the win for Marist and gave up just eight goals against.
Game Two: Marist 19, Iona 10
The Red Foxes had seven individuals score at least one goal in the win over Iona. Amorosa led the way with five goals and one assist. Sophomore Nastassia McGlothlin (Mission Viejo, California) and Hathaway each had four goals. Hathaway also had three assists.
The Red Foxes fell behind early, but that didn't stop them as they cruised to their seventh conference win of the season. After falling behind 1-0, Amorosa (2), A. Hamby (1), Levien (1) and Hathaway (1) scored goals to send the Red Foxes into the second quarter with a 5-2 lead. The Gaels pulled within one goal twice in the second quarter but that was the closest they would come to retaking the lead. Amorosa (3), A. Hamby (1) and J. Hamby (1) netted goals in the second quarter to take a 10-6 lead into halftime.
Marist opened up its lead in the third quarter by outscoring Iona 5-1. McGlothlin and Hathaway each scored two goals, and A. Hamby added one. With a 15-7 Red Foxes lead, Iona scored the first goal to draw within seven. Marist would answer with two goals of its own by McGlothlin to take a 17-8 lead. Sophomore Molly Shamieh (Sylmar, California) and Hathaway scored goals in the final minutes of the game to secure the second win of the day for the Red Foxes.
Henry made nine saves and gave up eight goals against in 28 minutes for the Red Foxes. Freshman goalie Jessica Hermosillo (La Mirada, California) came in for Henry and gave up two goals against.
The Red Foxes return to action on Saturday, April 4 with two MAAC games against St. Francis and Iona. Game times are scheduled for 10:30 a.m. and 5:30 p.m.
