On an unseasonably warm Saturday in March, two talented teams faced off at Tenney Stadium, both hungry for the win. Marist came off of a two-game winning streak against UVM and Binghamton, but lost to UMASS in their most recent game, while LaSalle was looking for redemption as they were in the midst of a four game losing streak, most recently falling to Temple 10-13. With both teams coming in determined, Marist was able to top LaSalle in a 12-11 home victory.
Marist won the draw, however dropped balls and turnovers were dominating the first few minutes. Junior attack, Carly Grant, put Marist on the board with a penalty shot. Soon after, senior midfielder, Hailey Wagner, and sophomore attack, Kelly George, each tallied a goal for the Red Foxes.
The fast pace continued with La Salle’s first goal of the game. But by the first time out 13 minutes into the game, Marist had racked up six goals with George adding another and junior attack, Samantha Mehalick contributing two. Halfway through the first half, La Salle put another goal on the board.
Despite the Red Foxes maintaining possession and taking a lead, the Explorers were fighting hard to stay in the game, both offensively and defensively.
In an impressive team effort LaSalle was able to score two goals in the last six minutes of the half, making the score 6-5, with Marist leading going into half time. Throughout the first half, Marist kept control of the draw, showing a small, yet significant win.
La Salle began the second half strong, adding two more goals. The Red Foxes were able to tie up the score, with a goal from Grant, scoring the first goal for Marist in both halves. The score went back and forth with the Red Foxes experiencing three yellow cards. Both George and Mehalick score hat tricks during the second half as well. With ten minutes left in the game, LaSalle brought the game to a nail-biting 10-10. Back to back points by both teams, kept them tied at 11-11.
After several aggressive and smart moves by both teams, Marist came out on top thanks to a final goal scored by Mehalick. With two minutes left in the game, the Red Foxes ran the clock until the final seconds to take the win with a final score of 12-11.
Having been on the road for their last four games, a win at home added to the excitement for the Red Foxes. “It was really nice to get a win at home,” said attacker Kelly George. “Everyone did really very well today. Everyone was hitting some great cuts, I was able to feed to them. They helped set me up and I could do the same for them.”
When asked about the team’s biggest strengths Coach Jess Wilkinson said, “Defense stood up a lot when we were a man down. Hailey Wagner also did a really good job with the draw control stat today, and that kept our possession for the majority of the game.” Wagner won her 400th career draw control during the game.
Marist will face-off against Cornell this coming Monday. Wilkinson added,“We’re excited for that game.”
Edited by Lily Caffrey-Levine
Header Photo by Shannon Tierney
Correction: Marist’s loss to the University of Massachusetts at Amherst was initially not included.