ANN ARBOR, Michigan -- Despite holding three seperate two goal leads, the Red Foxes fell 12-9 to the Hartwick College Hawks in the final game of the Michigan Invite tournament on Sunday. The loss drops Marist to 1-3 (0-0 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conferenece), while the win lifts the Hawks to 1-3 (0-0 Collegiate Water Polo Association).
Freshman Katie Tijerina led the Red Foxes with two goals, two assists, four shots and four steals. Junior Amanda Amorosa chipped in two goals, one assist and five shots, while freshman Susan Cantoni scored two goals, one assist and had five shots.
Sophomore Nicolina Mihaljovik led the Hawks with four goals, eight shots and one steal.
Hartwick outshot Marist 31-27, converted on 2-of-6 power plays, had 11 turnovers and six eclusions. The Red Foxes converted on 2-of-5 power plays, turned the ball over 11 times and had six exclusions.
Both teams traded goals to open the match with Tijerina and Lauren Brennan (assisted by Maria Moya) scoring 17 seconds apart to make the score 1-1 with just over four minutes to go in the opening frame. Jocelyn McQuade (assisted by Amorosa) and Amorosa (assisted by Cantoni) gave Marist the 3-1 lead several minutes later but L.J. Edwards trimmed the deficit to 3-2 at the end of the opening period.
Ariana Singer (assisted by Grace Doerfler) gave the Red Foxes the 4-2 lead just 1:21 into the second period but Brennan (assisted by Edwards) and Edwards (assisted by Katie McKenty) scored for Hartwick to even the score 4-4 going into the half.
Two goals by Cantoni (assisted by Tijerina and Brooke Else) gave Marist the two goal advantage back just 1:30 into the third period. The Hawks answered right back with goals by Zsofia Polak and Nicolina Mihaljlovik (2) (assisted by Charlotte Cottle and Brittany Tait) to grab the lead but Doerfler (assisted by Tijerina) tied the match up at 7-7 with 3:22 left in the third frame. Just over one minute later, Hartwick regained the lead for good when Mihaljlovik scored (assisted by Tait) at the 2:29 mark.
Goals by Zsofia Polak (assisted by Cottle) and Brennan (assisted by Katie McKenty) gave Hartwick the 10-7 lead with 4:39 left in the match. An unassisted power play goal by Amorosa at 3:31 brought the deficit to 10-8 but the Hawks answered right back with two goals from Mihaljlovik and Edwards to put the game out of reach. Tijerina scored unassisted with just over one minute left in the match but it was not enough as time expired with the score 12-9 in favor of the Hawks.
Up next for the Red Foxes is the Brown Bruno Classic tournament in Providence, Rhode Island where Marist will face off against Bucknell University (9:40 AM Saturday), #22 Harvard University (1:40 PM Saturday), #4 Hawaii (8:00 AM Sunday) and #15 Indiana (1:50 PM).
