POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. – A first round bye was how the playoffs began. A semi-final exit is how it ends.
Marist women’s soccer watched their successful season slip away as Siena went ahead and never looked back in their semi-final square off with the Siena Saints, moving onto the finals following a 2-0 victory.
The Red Foxes, who finished in the second spot on the MAAC table, hosted the third-seeded Saints in the semifinals of the MAAC championships. Marist was given a huge boost as co-captain Bianca Furci came back from injury and started in tonight’s game. She was in the lineup when Marist defeated Siena 2-0 on October 17, the twos only regular season matchup.
However, this match was a different story from the start, as Siena had two quick chances to go ahead in the 17th minute, with both coming via free kicks. The Red Foxes conceded a number of fouls early and were struggling to get the ball into the Saints’ box, let alone their own half.
Siena finally broke through the Marist defense after a fantastic Johan Cruyff-style turn from Saints midfielder Darby D’Angelo, who then scored from 20-yards out, burying a screamer into the top left corner.
The only yellow card of the match went to Marist redshirt freshman Kristen Prevosto, mere seconds after the team went 1-0 down.
Even though Marist couldn’t record a single shot on target in the first half, freshman winger Victoria Colatosti had a fantastic chance in the half’s final seconds. She used her pace to get past the last defender, then sending off a right-footed shot which went wide. While a majority of the attack’s first half was disappointing, they showed significantly more promise in the second half.
Just as Marist finally found their offensive footing, they suffered an unfortunate mistake from goalkeeper Abigail Renaud. She couldn’t maintain possession of a ball coming off a swift pass from fellow Red Fox Alexa Svensson, giving Siena striker Meghan Riccardi space to obtain possession and net the Saint’s second goal.
The game’s final 20-minutes looked relatively favorable for Marist. The half’s best moment came from Jillian Colucci, whose off-the-post half volley nearly cut the deficit in half. While the effort was energized, it was too little that came too late. The playoffs and the season came to close at once.
Additionally, the Foxes say goodbye to five senior’s moving forward, including captain Alexis Prisco. Coach Leigh Howard, in regards to the team’s season, was proud.
“I can’t really speak highly enough of our team, as they fought and persevered through so many different adversaries… coming out of the game, we should give all the credit to Siena for the way they fought [tonight].”
Edited by Will Bjarnar