POUGHKEEPSIE, New York – For the fifth consecutive season the #2 Marist water polo team has advanced to the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Championship game, this time with a 7-4 win over the #3 Iona Gaels in the semi-final on Saturday afternoon at McCann Natatorium.

The Red Foxes will take on the #1 Wagner Seahawks in the title game on Sunday at 2 p.m.

SUMMARY:

The Gaels opened the scoring 27 seconds into the game with an even strength score. However, just over a minute later junior Ariana Singer evened the score on the man advantage off an assist from senior co-captain Diana Carballo. The score remained tied at 1-1 until junior Susan Cantoni gave Marist the 2-1 lead with a second straight power play goal with the assist coming from Singer. Iona then answered right back less than 10 seconds later to even the score and the two teams headed into the second period tied at 2-2.

The second quarter proved to be all defense as both teams worked to disrupt the other's offensive flow and after half number one the game remained tied 2-2.
The Red Foxes came out looking to regain the lead and did just that 1:27 into the third when freshman Aminadi

Anorve fired home a pass from junior co-captain Katherine Tijerina on the man advantage to take a 3-2 lead. The goal seemed to awaken Marist as sophomore Justine Castro gave the Red Foxes a two goal lead less than a minute later off another Tijerina assist and Singer's second pushed Marist ahead by three with an even strength goal with just under five minutes left in the quarter. The Gaels answered with a power play goal 44 seconds later to climb back within two but a man up goal by junior Grace Doerfler with four seconds left in the period gave the Red Foxes the 6-3 lead heading into the fourth.

Iona again trimmed the deficit back to two goals 1:23 into the final quarter but a second straight goal by Doerfler gave Marist a third three goal lead. The Red Fox defense then stepped up huge with senior co-captain Jessica Hermosillo make several big saves as she had all afternoon and the final horn sounded with the Red Foxes emerging with the 7-4 win.

KEY STATS:

• The Gaels outshot Marist 27-13
• The Red Foxes finished 5-for-10 on the power play, while Iona went 1-for-13

GAME NOTES:

• Hermosillo recorded 14 saves, marking her fourth straight game with 13+ saves
• Doerfler finished with 2 goals, her second straight multi-goal game, her fourth in the previous six games and her 17^th of the season overall
• Singer tallied 2 goals on the afternoon, her second straight multi-goal game

UP NEXT:

#2 Marist will take on the #1 Wagner Seahawks in the MAAC Championship game on Sunday (2 p.m.) at McCann Natatorium.