POUGHKEEPSIE, New York – Behind goals from seven different players, the #2 Marist water polo team defeated the #3 Virginia Military Institute Keydets 11-7 in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Championship semi-finals on Saturday afternoon in McCann Natatorium.
With the win, the Red Foxes advance to the Championship game where they will face the #1 Wagner College Seahawks on Sunday at 2 PM for the fourth consecutive year.
Sophomore Katherine Tijerina led Marist with one goal, five assists and two steals, while senior co-captain Amanda Amorosa finished with three goals, one assist and one steal. Senior Nastassia McGlothlin had two goals and one assist, freshman Justine Castro finished two goals and one steal and sophomore Grace Doerfler had one goal, one kickout drawn and one steal. Senior co-captain Jocelyn McQuade finished with one goal and two steals, freshman Carolyn Gauvin had one goal and one kickout drawn, sophomore Ariana Singer finished with one assist and six steals and junior co-captain Diana Carballo had one assist and three steals.
In net, junior Jessica Hermosillo played the entire game and finished with seven goals against, 13 saves which tied a career high and a .650 save percentage.
The Keydets struck first in the opening quarter as Emma Noble found the back of the net just 48 seconds into the game for the 1-0 lead. The Red Foxes looked to answer but were unable as they hit three posts in the opening minutes. With just under two minutes, Shelby Barkley gave VMI a two goal lead and Marist was unable to answer before the end of the quarter, as the Keydets led 2-0 after the opening eight minutes.
Just under a minute into the second quarter, Carballo found Tijerina on a fast break who beat the goalie to put the Red Foxes on the board. Roughly two minutes later, Amorosa got the ball in the middle near the goal, faked and laid it over the outstretched hand of the goalie and into the net to tie the game at 2-2. Castro, McQuade and McGlothlin each found the back of the net, all off passes by Tijerina and with the first half in the books it was 5-2 Marist.
Barkley made it a two goal game just 20 seconds into the second half but back-to-back goals by Amorosa gave the Red Foxes a 7-3 lead just over halfway through the quarter. A goal by Cecilya Lundy trimmed the deficit down to three but back-to-back goals from McGlothlin and Castro gave Marist a 9-4 advantage with 22 seconds left in the third. A goal by Bailey Huddleston on the man up with 1 second left in the third quarter made it 9-5 as the two teams entered the final eight minutes of play.
Noble's second goal of the afternoon made it a three goal game 47 seconds into the fourth but the Red Foxes answered 17 seconds later when Doerfler collected a pass from Singer right in front and put it away with a nifty behind the back flick. Gauvin put home an Amorosa pass with 2:33 left in the game to extend the Marist lead to 11-6 with 2:33 left in the game. Needing five goals to tie and with not much time remaining, the Keydets began to press and Barkley found the back of the net with 1:57 remaining. However, the Red Fox defense stood strong and Hermosillo made some big time saves to keep VMI from scoring again and the Red Foxes prevailed 11-7.
Up next, Marist will square off against the #1 Wagner College Seahawks for the fourth consecutive year in the MAAC Championship game on Sunday in McCann Natatorium (2 PM).
