LOUDONVILLE, New York – The Marist water polo team opened Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference play in perfect fashion on Saturday, picking up a 7-5 win vs the Iona Gaels and a 13-10 win vs the St Francis Brooklyn Terriers.
With the wins, the Red Foxes improve to 9-10 overall and 2-0 in MAAC play.
SUMMARY VS IONA:
The Gaels opened the scoring 3:56 into the first quarter and Marist answered just under two minutes later when junior
Grace Doerfler found the back of the net off an assist from junior
Ariana Singer. Roughly 42 seconds later, senior co-captain
Diana Carballo gave the Red Foxes the lead with an assist from sophomore
Anais Mathes and after one period it was 2-1 Marist.
Iona tied things up with a goal just 35 seconds into the second quarter but the Red Foxes answered with three unanswered goals from Tijerina (2) and sophomore
Carolyn Gauvin to take a 5-2 lead into the half.
Back-to-back goals by the Gaels to open the second half brought the game to 5-4 in favor of Marist Mathes found the back of the net with 24 seconds left in the third quarter to give the Red Foxes the 6-4 lead.
Carballo doubled the Marist lead when she converted a penalty shot 4:55 into the final quarter but 20 seconds later, Iona answered with a goal to trim the deficit to 7-5. However, the Red Fox defense stood strong and secured the 7-5 victory.
KEY STATS VS IONA:
- The Gaels outshot Marist 27-24
- Both teams went 1-for-4 on the power play
- The Red Foxes shot .292 while Iona shot .185
SUMMARY VS ST FRANCIS BROOKLYN:
Marist opened the scoring with three goals by Tijerina, Carballo and junior
Susan Cantoni to take a 3-0 lead after the opening eight minutes.
Sophomore
Bree Marmion extended the Red Foxes' lead to 4-0 with her first goal of the season 53 seconds into the second quarter. The Terriers got on the board with a power play goal at the 7:06 mark before freshman
Katelin Harris made it 5-1 Marist with a goal 41 seconds later. Both teams traded goals with freshman
Lauren Smith and Gauvin scoring for the Red Foxes and with 2:18 left in the first half it was 7-3 Marist. Doerfler and sophomore
Lexi Puhl found the back of the net in the final two minutes and after one half it was 9-3 Red Foxes.
The Terriers opened the second half with back-to-back goals to bring the deficit to 9-5 with 3:23 left in the third quarter, before Gauvin answered with consecutive goals in the final 2:01 to give Marist the 11-5 lead going into the fourth quarter.
Sophomore
Megan Clarke scored her first career goal 1:11 into the final quarter to give the Red Foxes the 12-5 lead but St. Francis Brooklyn answered with four straight goals over the next 4:46 to bring the game to 12-9 Marist with 2:03 left. Smith extended the lead back to four goals on a goal with 55 seconds left, before the Terriers scored with nine seconds left to bring the score to 13-10.
KEY STATS VS ST FRANCIS BROOKLYN:
- The Red Foxes outshot St Francis Brooklyn 30-23
- Marist went 3-for-7 on the power play while the Terriers went 1-for-5
- St. Francis Brooklyn shot .435 on the day, while the Red Foxes shot .433
GAME NOTES:
- Clarke's goal vs St. Francis Brooklyn was her first career goal and point and her 4 shots were a career high as well
- Doerfler tied a season high with three drawn kickouts against Iona and St Francis Brooklyn
- Smith's 2 goals vs St. Francis Brooklyn tied a career high and was her first multi-goal game since her first career game on Jan 20th
- Sophomore Justine Castro set a season high with 2 assists vs St Francis Brooklyn
- Singer's 2 assists vs St. Francis Brooklyn were a season high
- Harris' three steals vs St. Francis Brooklyn were a career high
- Puhl's 2 assists vs St. Francis Brooklyn tied a season high
- Gauvin's 3 goals vs St. Francis Brooklyn were a season high
UP NEXT:
Marist wraps up the opening weekend of MAAC play at the Siena Saints (10:30 AM) and vs the La Salle Explorers (3 PM) on Sunday.
