PROVIDENCE, Rhode Island – The Marist water polo team is back in action in its first East Coast tournament of the season, the Bruno Classic, hosted by Brown University.

The Red Foxes will play the #19 Harvard Crimson (10:20 a.m.) and the #T25 Brown Bears (5:20 p.m.) on Saturday.

LAST TIME OUT:

Marist is coming off the Michigan Invite, which despite losses in all three of its matches, saw the Red Foxes play the #4 UCLA Bruins to an 8-4 halftime score, lead the #13 Hartwick Hawks 5-4 at halftime and hold the #8 Michigan Wolverines to a season low nine goals allowed and zero power play goals scored.

A PAIR OF NATIONAL RANKINGS AGAIN:

For the second straight week, Marist picked up two national rankings, coming in at #21 in the USA Water Polo Women's National Collegiate Rankings and #24 in the Collegiate Water Polo Association's Week 3 Poll as well. The rankings were the fifth and sixth times the Red Foxes were included in a national poll, having been ranked #23 in the CWPA's Preseason and Week 1 Polls, #12 in the USA Water Polo National Collegiate Rankings last week and #24 in the CWPA Week 2 Poll. 

A START AGAINST SOME OF THE NATION'S BEST:

The two games this weekend mark the seventh and eighth consecutive games Marist has played against a nationally ranked opponent. Of the six games the Red Foxes have played so far, four have come against teams ranked in the Top 10 (#4(x2), #6 and #8, five have been against teams ranked in the Top 15 (#4(x2), #6, #8 and #13) and all six were against teams ranked higher than Marist.

JUNIORS LEADING THE WAY:

After six games played, juniors Grace Doerfler, Katherine Tijerina and Susan Cantoni lead the team with eight, seven and six goals respectively. Tijerina is riding a three game streak with two or more goals in each game and Doerfler has scored at least one goal in all six games this season.

SCOUTING THE CRIMSON:

Harvard enters the tournament ranked #19 in the CWPA Week 3 Poll and stand at 2-1 on the season. The Crimson competed at the Hoosier Invite last weekend and picked up 14-6 and 19-6 wins over the #25 Iona College Gaels and the McKendree Bearcats respectively, followed by an 8-5 loss to the #T14 UC Santa Barbara Gauchos.

SCOUTING THE BEARS:

Brown comes into the tournament ranked #T25 in the CWPA Week 3 Poll with this weekend's games marking the beginning of the 2018 season for the Bears. The team is coming off a 21-10 season in 2017 that ended with a seventh place finish at the CWPA Championships. Returning for the Bears this season are senior utility Jessica Heilman who finished second on the team with 68 goals and 56 steals last year and senior goalie Marisol Dakan who finished with a team high 161 saves to go along with 135 goals against and a .544 save percentage in 2017.

HOW TO FOLLOW:

A live stream will be available for both games (#19 Harvard) (#T25 Brown) and live stats will also be available (#19 Harvard) (#T25 Brown). Fans can also follow @MaristWP on Twitter for in game updates.

UP NEXT:

Following the Bruno Classic, the Red Foxes will have two weeks off from competition before heading to Princeton, NJ for the Princeton Invite where Marist will play the George Washington Colonials (9:15 a.m.) and the #T25 Bucknell Bison (1 p.m.) on Saturday, Feb. 17.