Finally returning home to Tenney Stadium after three games away, the Marist women’s lacrosse team played in a hard-fought battle to the finish, ultimately losing to the Canisius Golden Griffins 11-10 in overtime.
“I am really proud of this team,” Head Coach Jess Wilkinson said of her squad. “I am really proud of what they have put forth even if they aren’t necessarily W’s, they will translate into that in our program’s future.”
A noticeable change to Marist’s offense, as they were without star attacker Kerri Gutenberger, who broke her hand in the game against Niagara on April 13.
“Kerri is a leader,” junior attacker Kelly Trotta said of her teammate. “She can continue to do that off the field and we look to her to help us see what she sees from the sidelines.”
The game was scoreless for the first seven minutes of the first quarter. Canisius squeaked the ball behind sophomore goalie Miranda Lopes who was hugging the post to break the tie.
Lopes also recorded her first collegiate start today, but was replaced by senior Gaby Orlando at the end of the first quarter.
Marist was on attack after winning the next draw, where they ran into Canisius’ heavy pressure defense. The Griffins were doubling the ball and not making it easy for the Red Foxes to enter the eight-meter arc. Graduate attacker Alex Di Chiara was awarded a free position shot, but she moved off the line early and gave Canisius a free turnover that they capitalized on and extended their lead to two.
Back on defense, for the next possession, the Red Foxes found themselves two people down for checks to the head, assessed to sophomore defender Bella D’Gracia and senior defender Sheridan DeVito. They switched into a zone defense over man, and fended the Griffins off from scoring after freshman defender Juliana Palumbo knocked down a pass.
Quickly running through the midfield, Marist was aggressively defended because they were still down players on the field. Even with five players over the restraining line on attack, Trotta bounced a shot towards the goal that went in, cutting the deficit back to one heading into the second quarter.
The second quarter went back and forth for both teams, but Marist scored the first goal of the second quarter, with Di Chiara finding sophomore midfielder Hannah Spease to tie that game at two. It wouldn’t last long, as the Griffins scored on the next possession.
After a massive save down low from Orlando, the Red Foxes went off in transition and worked the ball around until it got in the hands of Trotta, who ran from the elbow to the center before she fired her shot. The goalie didn’t even budge as it hit the back of the net and tied the game again. Canisius had an answer, as Orlando couldn’t see the next shot she faced and Canisius went up by one again.
Marist’s defense forced a shot clock violation, as the Griffins could not score or find an opportunity to reset it. On offense, Trotta’s shot was saved, but she stuck with the play and marked up on the goalie. Feeling the pressure, she lost the ball, and Trotta scooped it back up. Attack quickly went back into position, and freshman Alana Tavares found the back of the net to tie the game 4-4 heading to halftime.
“We kept telling ourselves ‘we’re gonna get the ball, and we’re gonna score,’” Trotta said of the offense’s approach today.
Canisius won the opening draw of the third quarter. After the claimed possession, they were quickly assessed a yellow card for a cross-check. Orlando recorded a save on their offensive stint, but the next few minutes would be all Marist, as they went on a 3-0 run with goals from Di Chiara, Trotta, and senior midfielder Melissa Bucher. Two of those goals were scored when Marist was a man down due to D’Garcia getting her second card of the game. She had to sit for the rest of the competition.
“I think we shared the ball very well as an offensive unit,” Wilkinson said. “We have a very deep offensive unit and the more we do a good job of sharing the ball, we will be on the same page as a unit.”
The Red Foxes’ success forced the Griffins to call a timeout, which proved to work in their favor as Canisius’ attack drew two defenders and dumped the ball off to junior leading scorer Paige Stachura to make the score 7-5.
The goal breathed some life back into the Griffins, as they scored to bring the game within one. Junior defender Camryn Stoner picked up a ground ball and ran it the other way, but the Red Foxes could not capitalize on the chance. It went the other way, and Canisius again brought the game within one. Junior attacker Olivia Arnsten scored the final goal of the quarter as she beat her defender and took the ball to the cage, and made the game 8-6.
Canisius opened the final quarter with lots of pressure on the ball to try and force turnovers. Trotta fired a shot that hit the post and the Griffins went the other way. Di Chiara was assessed a card while riding the transition, and while Marist was a man-down Canisius found the back of the net to make it a one-goal game again.
Orlando then recorded back-to-back saves before Marist was evenly matched with players again. The defense knocked the ball loose and the Red Foxes went down the field in transition before Coach Wilkinson called a timeout. Post timeout, Trotta scored her third goal to complete her hattrick. The junior now has hattricks in back-to-back games. Ahead by two, Canisius called a timeout again.
Once play resumed, Stoner had a huge stop of defense that set Trotta up again for her fourth, tying her career-high goals in a single game. Canisius did not give up, down by three, they brought the game back within one with just over three minutes left to play. Orlando saved their shot and the Griffins had a big stop on defense that sent them back towards the defense. With 1:40 left in the game, Canisius called their final timeout.
The ball was on the left side of Orlando, and DeVito was defending aggressively. She got beat and senior attacker Skylar McArthur had a clear line to goal and put the shot away cleanly to tie the game at ten. Orlando recorded one last save as time expired.
Overtime in lacrosse is played with a golden-goal rule. Essentially, the next goal wins. All it takes is one play, one call, or one mistake.
A call is what Canisius got, as McArthur was shoved just outside the 12-meter arc. She had another path to goal, and the crash came a second too late as she buried the shot, ending the game 11-10.
Marist will look to bounce back and record their first MAAC win this season in their final game as they travel to Iona, which is scheduled for Saturday, April 23 at 1 p.m.
Edited by Bridget Reilly
Photo Credit: Annabel Banks