LOS ANGELES, California – The Marist water polo team battled hard and hung in to the very end but came up just short, falling 7-5 and 8-7 to the #22 Harvard Crimson and #17 Princeton Tigers respectively on Friday at the LMU Invitational.

The Red Foxes were tied with the Crimson at the beginning of the fourth quarter and with Tigers with 5:19 remaining in the game but late goals by both teams snatched victory away from Marist.

SUMMARY VS #22 HARVARD:

Harvard opened the scoring 3:24 into the game with an even strength score and held the Red Foxes scoreless in the opening quarter to hold the 1-0 lead after the first eight minutes.

Just 46 seconds into the second, the Crimson extended the lead to 2-0 before Marist answered 19 seconds later on a goal by senior co-captain Diana Carballo. Roughly five minutes later, junior co-captain Katherine Tijerina found the back of the net to even the score at 2-2 and sophomore Justine Castro gave the Red Foxes their first lead of the game on a goal with 28 seconds left in the half.

Castro made it back-to-back goals with an even strength score 55 seconds into the third quarter that extended the Marist lead to 4-2 but Harvard answered with consecutive goals at 5:28 and 4:56 to tie the game at 4-4. Freshman Aminadi Anorve gave the Red Foxes back the lead with a goal 21 seconds later but the lead was short lived as just over a minute later the Crimson answered and both teams were deadlocked at 5-5 with one quarter left to play.

Harvard took its first lead since early in the second quarter with a score just 18 seconds into the fourth quarter and then doubled the lead with a third unanswered goal at the 6:43 mark. Marist looked to answer but were unable and the final horn sounded with the Crimson emerging victorious 7-5.

KEY STATS:

• The Red Foxes outshot Harvard 24-23
• Both teams were unsuccessful on the power play going a combined 0-for-14 on the man advantage

SUMMARY VS #17 PRINCETON:

Princeton opened the scoring 1:21 into the game, before Tijerina evened the score at 1-1 with a goal at the 4:49 mark. The Tigers answered on their next possession to regain the lead but again Marist answered this time from Castro with 2:53 remaining in the quarter. With less than a minute left in the period, Princeton took its third lead of the game and then extended it to 4-2 with a goal on the man advantage with seven seconds left in the period.

Sophomore Anais Mathes trimmed the deficit to 4-3 with a goal at the 5:34 mark of the second quarter but the Tigers answered and regained the two goal advantage 1:25 later. Junior Grace Doerfler then brought the Red Foxes back within one with an even strength score with 2:37 seconds left in the period and the two teams headed into the half with Princeton holding the 5-4 lead.

Mathes tied things up on the power play at the 3:08 mark of the third quarter but again the Tigers answered and regained the lead with a goal 1:42 later which they maintained through the remainder of the quarter.

A Princeton goal 1:17 into the fourth quarter made it a 7-5 game but goals by Mathes at 6:18 and Doerfler at 5:19 tied things up. Both teams battled for the go ahead goal and it was the Tigers that found the back of the net with 2:53 left in the game to take the 8-7 lead. Marist looked to answer but Doerfler's shot with seconds left was denied by the Princeton goalie to give the Tigers the 8-7 win.

KEY STATS:

• Princeton outshot the Red Foxes 26-24
• Both teams finished with 1 power play goal

UP NEXT:

Marist wraps up action at the LMU Invitational with matchups vs the #21 San Jose State Spartans (1:30 p.m.) and #24 Cal Baptist Lancers (7:45 p.m.) on Saturday.