POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. - The Marist men's lacrosse team earned a hard-fought road victory on Saturday, edging Sacred Heart 14–13. The Red Foxes improved to 8-4 overall and 6-1 in MAAC play, clinching the No. 2 seed in the MAAC Men's Lacrosse Championships with the win in a tightly contested battle that featured multiple lead changes throughout.
Marist used a balanced offensive effort and timely goals down the stretch to secure the one-goal victory after Sacred Heart pulled within one in the final minutes.
Sacred Heart opened the scoring early in the first quarter, but
Sean Mullan answered just 34 seconds later to get Marist on the board. The Pioneers built a 4–2 lead midway through the quarter before
Brady Dolan scored off an assist from
Simon Bowen to keep the Red Foxes within striking distance heading into the second.
The Red Foxes surged in the second quarter, with Mullan, Dolan, Bowen, and
Steven Cain each finding the back of the net. Cain's goal at 5:08 gave Marist its first lead of the game at 6–5. After Sacred Heart tied the contest,
Dylan Rocchio finished a feed from
Dylan Stadler to send Marist into halftime with a 7–6 advantage.
Marist continued to apply pressure in the third quarter.
Collin Patrick opened the scoring, and later added another goal, while Mullan extended the lead to 10–8 with a goal off an assist from Cain. Sacred Heart answered with a late man-up goal to cut the deficit to 10–9 entering the fourth.
The back-and-forth action continued in the final quarter. After Sacred Heart tied the game,
Peter Murray scored off a pass from Mullan to give Marist an 11–10 lead. Mullan then completed his fourth goal of the game to push the advantage to two.
Drew Anderson and Patrick added key goals in the closing minutes to help Marist maintain its edge.
Sacred Heart made one final push, scoring twice in the last three minutes to cut the deficit to 14–13, but Marist held on for the victory.
Mullan led the Red Foxes with four goals, while Patrick recorded three goals and an assist. Dolan added two goals and an assist, and Cain contributed a goal and two assists in the win.
Defensively, Marist forced 15 caused turnovers and committed just eight turnovers. In goal,
Richie Metzger recorded 11 saves to earn the win.
The Red Foxes will be back in action on Wednesday, April 22, when Marist travels to take on Canisius at 3 p.m.
