Hamden, CT – After a strong performance against Saint Peter’s in the quarterfinals of the MAAC tournament, the third seed Marist Red Foxes headed to the home of the second seed Quinnipiac Bobcats. Quinnipiac came into the game as favorites after defeating Marist on October 27 in the regular season 1-0.
However, straight off the bat, Marist came out as the better team pressuring the Quinnipiac defense. In the 13th minute, a looping cross from left-back Bruce Jeter finds the head of forward Samad Bounthong, saved by keeper Jared Mazzola but Bouthong gets the rebound and finds the net making it 1-0 to the Red Foxes.
10 minutes later, Bouthong is on the other side of the cross as he puts in a dangerous ball for defender Marcus Ginman, who started the match up top to be an aerial threat, and he did as his header kissed off the post and in to double the lead for the Red Foxes.
Marist looked comfortable going into halftime with a 2-0 lead but Quinnipiac’s pacey forward Rashawn Daly fired a shot from outside the box into the bottom corner that completely changed the game’s momentum going into the second half. It was shown straight off the kick-off as MAAC Offensive Player of the Year Eamon Whelan for the Bobcats equalizes to make the match 2-2.
With 10 minutes left in regulation, it went from bad to worse for the Red Foxes as a free kick from just outside the box is met with the head of Norwegian defender Jeppe Haehre.
The game looked over for Marist but after another cross from a set piece, defender Beau Hornberger gets a shot off that’s saved by the keeper but just like Marist’s first goal it was put back in from the rebound this time from Hornberger as he sent the match to extra time. Not only was this match full of goals but it also had a combined eight yellow cards, five for Quinnipiac and three for Marist.
Extra time did not entertain the home crowd as much as regulation until the last few minutes where Marist was given a penalty after a handball given by the referee. Simon Lund Jorgensen stepped up to the spot to have a chance to send the Red Foxes into the final of the MAAC tournament but Mazzola guessed the right way and sent the game into penalties.
In penalties, it went down to the 10th player for both teams. Junior Ernest Mitchell, who did not play a second in the match, had to take a penalty and his lack of game time showed as Mazzola saved yet another penalty as Quinnipiac move onto the final to meet with either Fairfield University or Rider University.
Season Recap
Even though it was not the result that the Red Foxes were hoping for in the day, they finished the season with a 8-5-5 overall record with a 6-2-2 conference record as they finished in 3rd in MAAC table where they were projected to finish in 7th in the preseason behind Monmouth, who finished in last place at the end of the season. As for individuals, sophomore Allen Gavilanes and Samad Bounthong made All-MAAC First Team as they had a combined 12 goals and 9 assists in the regular season and postseason. Freshman star Skylar Conway made All-MAAC second team as well as All-MAAC Rookie First Team. Since today was the last game of the season for the men’s team, this means it is the last game for five seniors (Beau Hornberger, Simon Lund Jorgensen, Bruce Jeter, Enzo Petrocelli and Juan Parada) in their Marist careers.
Edited by Marco Schaden