Marist water polo traveled to California last weekend with the hopes of starting their season off strong against heavy competition.
Instead, the Red Foxes fell short in three of their four games. A one-goal loss to Pomona-Pitzer made all the difference, although Marist at least demonstrated that their team is on the same level as the Sagehens, who tied Marist in the preseason rankings (both squads ranked 25th nationally).
The Red Foxes began the UCSB Winter Invitational with a game against Division III Whittier College on Saturday. Marist graduate student utility Shinae Carrington scored the first goal with 6:56 left in the first period.
Carrington’s goal set the tone for the game. Exactly 30 seconds later, junior center Ella Baumgarten added to the score sheet, giving the Red Foxes a 2-0 lead. By the end of the first period, Marist gained full control of the game leading 9-0, and would go on to win 24-3.
Sophomore goalie Inés Sánchez finished the game with eleven saves. The team accumulated contributions up and down the stat sheet, with 12 different players scoring and three players having three or more goals.
The rest of the tournament panned out differently for Marist. Offensively, the Red Foxes were outshot in the rest of their games by nine goals or more.
Marist’s second game did not follow the same course as the first. Instead, third-ranked UCLA had full control over the Red Foxes. Marist has played UCLA two times in the program’s history: once in 2018 and again in 2020, both times losing by a ten-goal margin. Sure enough, history repeated itself once again.
UCLA’s offensive power plays shook the Red Foxes, allowing the Bruins to attack first. Marist sophomore Paige Naegle caught the attention of the refs at 6:52 and sent UCLA into a power play. Five seconds later, UCLA put the first score on the board.
When the whistle blew to end the first period, Marist trailed by six with no goals of their own. The Red Foxes would not get a goal until midway through the second period, making the score 1-7. Marist only took 23 shots during the game, with six of them producing a goal. This paled in comparison to the Bruins’ 38 shots, ending in a total of 19 goals.
On the second day of the tournament, Marist continued to struggle with taking shots and executing on offense. Top ten-ranked UC San Diego smothered Marist in a 15-8 victory, outshooting the Red Foxes by nine (32-23).
The first period was not the strongest start for Marist – the team allowed seven turnovers, five goals, and four missed shots. After one, Marist trailed 5-2.
The second period began with a power play goal from UC San Diego’s junior Lucia Doak. 30 seconds later, redshirt junior Caroline Christl from UC San Diego scored again during even strength, making the score 7-2.
With 5:38 left in the period, officials called a penalty on Marist freshman Alyssa Mullane. UC San Diego scored off the five-meter attempt. Immediately after the attempt, head coach Chris Vidale called a full-time out in hopes of making adjustments.
Just over a minute after the timeout, Marist junior Racheal Dean found the back of the net during a Red Fox power play making the score 8-3. The rest of the second period followed a pattern of turnovers by both teams.
Marist picked up the intensity in the second half, scoring three goals in the third and two in the fourth, but it was not nearly enough to launch a comeback bid.
The last game of the tournament for the Red Foxes was against Pomona-Pitzer, a school that as previously mentioned tied with Marist in the pre-season rankings at 25th.
One minute into the game, Pomona-Pitzer junior utility Abigail Wiesenthal scored off an offensive power play. Marist’s first goal did not come until the back end of the first period. With 3:19 left, Naegle scored at even strength, drawing Marist within one. With 2 minutes left in the first period, freshman attacker/center Emily Scheerer scored the equalizer for the Red Foxes off of a pass from Dean.
Marist constantly played catch-up throughout the entire 32 minutes of play, as the Red Foxes never held a lead; The score either was tied or sat in favor of Pomona-Pitzer every step of the way, yet the entire time, Marist remained right on their heels.
Going into the fourth period wth the score being 11-10 in favor of Pomona-Pitzer, sophomore Mia Amberger scored the first goal of the period on a power play giving the Sagehens a 2-point lead.
30 seconds later, junior Kaylee Stigar added to Pomona-Pitzer’s lead off a penalty shot, giving the Sagehens a more comfortable cushion. With a little under three minutes remaining Marist Junior Liana Hunt scored on a five-meter attempt bringing the Red Foxes back within two.
Sánchez saved a crucial five-meter with two minutes remaining for the Red Foxes. Marist then scored a goal 17 seconds later to bring the score within one, 13-12. With time dwindling, Vidale called a timeout with less than 30 seconds remaining. Coming out of the time-out, Naegle ripped a shot that hits the post, ending the game with a one-goal loss for Marist.
In the three games that Marist lost, the team never held a lead. If this team wants to win, they need to start strong and not have to worry about playing catch-up throughout each game. Marist’s season will continue this weekend with the Wolverine Invitational, as the Red Foxes will travel to Ann Arbor, MI to take on Indiana, Salem, Saint Francis and Michigan from Jan. 27-28.
Edited by Luke Sassa
Photo Credit: Marist Athletics via Stockton Photo
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