The Marist Red Foxes (1-4) traveled across the country to Colorado Springs to face the Air Force Falcons (2-4), which resulted in a 17-8 game.
One of the only positives from today’s game was the improvement of freshman faceoff specialist Dylan Bedell, as he won 13 out of 28. His numbers continue to go up every game. The other bright spot for the team was their young players stepping up and putting goals in the back of the net.
Marist was outshot by a large margin today which led to senior goalie Anthony Novellano having to make many saves, which is a lot to ask of when you are getting shot on sixteen times in the first half alone and only stopping four of them.
Marist looked to hit the ground running against the Falcons and they did just that as senior long-stick midfielder JT Roselle scored twelve seconds, giving the Red Foxes obtained the early lead.
Just as Marist gains the early momentum, back-to-back goals from Air Force sophomore attackmen Aidan Tolen and junior attackmen Brandon Dodd to make it a 2-1 Falcon lead.
Marist bounced right back with a goal from freshman attackman Sam Ferell, the first of his young collegiate career for the Red Foxes.
Just as Marist thought they could keep their feet on the gas, three straight goals for the Falcons by Dodd– his second–faceoff specialist sophomore Braden Gaab, and freshman attackmen Alexander Stepney put the Air Force ahead at 5-2. The offense was coming out aggressively from the start for both sides.
To start the second quarter the Red Foxes scored a huge behind-the-back goal from freshman attackmen Jake Deacy off the well-placed assist from senior attackmen JoJo Pirreca to narrow down the lead to 5-3.
As the Red Foxes tried to claw their back in it, sophomore defenseman Chris Bardak, Crouse, and junior midfielder Gavin Peene make it an 8-3 Air Force lead.
Marist’s best first-half offensive performance came from an unexpected player in Deacy as he nets another goal to narrow it down to four goals with five minutes left in the first half.
Marist would try to narrow down the lead, but the Falcons would answer back with several goals, increasing their lead. At the end of the first half, the score was 11-4.
To start the second half, Marist got just what they needed as Pirreca scored a huge goal to make it a six-goal advantage for the Falcons with eleven minutes left in the third quarter.
Three goals in a row for Air Force with two by Dodd and Crouse would only just pile on the lead for the Falcons, making it 14-5. Dodd put up six goals, making him their leading scorer of the team and for the game.
Two goals from Deacy and Pirreca narrow down the lead six as they try to make a comeback, but that didn’t matter as there was too little time for the Red Foxes. A last-minute goal from junior midfielder Keenan Deraeve was the last score of the game for both teams.
The goalie position is one of the hardest in all sports and both goalies didn’t reach double digits in saves as Novellano had eight and junior goalkeeper Jason Rose had seven saves for Air Force.
The Marist Red Foxes are back on the road next Saturday, Mar. 12 as they take on another ranked opponent The University of Delaware in Newark, New Jersey. The first face-off is scheduled for 12 p.m.
Edited by Bridget Reilly
Photo Credit: Marist Athletics