POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. — Coming off of a strong win in their home opener against the University of Vermont, Marist Women’s Lacrosse was unable to continue their undefeated streak. Although they fell short, the Red Foxes put up a fight against the equally as aggressive UMass Minutemen, losing 19-10.
With Marist starting off slow, UMass was able to put up six unanswered goals in the first 13 minutes of the game. This streak was eventually broken by senior attack, Morgan Jaycox, as she scored her second of the season. Jaycox’s goal was followed up by senior attack, Lauren Mazza’s seventh goal of the season. After Hailey Wagner, junior midfielder added one to the board for Marist, UMass answered with three goals to end the first half.
After ending the first half down 10-4, Marist was able to come up big in the first 30 seconds of the second half with a goal from sophomore attack Samantha Mehalick to bring UMass’ lead down to five goals. With aggressive back and forth stick checking and fight for ground balls, many penalty shots were taken by both teams. UMass was able to come up with nine more goals in the second half, with their leading scorer Cassidy Doster contributing two goals in each half. Mazza added three more for Marist in the second half as their leading goal scorer this game, with four goals, and six this season. Wagner was able to contribute one more, along with freshman attack Kelly George getting her second of the season.
Falling short with scoring, Marist was able to put up an aggressive defensive fight, gaining possession of 16 ground balls to UMass’ nine, putting up a fight in one of the key aspects of any lacrosse game. Also contributing on the defensive end was freshman goalie Delaney Galvin, who made 17 saves in her third collegiate start.
While UMass was able to top Marist offensively, Marist held their own against an aggressive UMass, which was a major key to keeping up with them in this game.
“This is exactly why we schedule a lot of non-conference teams, because a lot of them come with different styles,” said head coach Jessica Wilkinson ’08. “UMass is very aggressive and we really want to see that so that when we come into our conference play we’re ready for it if it happens.”
The aggressive nature of UMass not only gave the Red Foxes a new challenge to look at, but also helped to show how much Marist can handle, playing strong until the clock ran out.
“We want to be a tough team too so sometimes we need to put ourselves against that type of team in order to recognize how much more we can out forth,” Wilkinson said.
Despite the tough loss versus UMass, Marist Women’s Lacrosse continues to push through new challenges and learn from them to move forward to their next game.
Marist College Women’s Lacrosse takes on the La Salle University Explorers in Philadelphia this coming Saturday.