On a beautiful day for lacrosse in Poughkeepsie, New York, the reigning 2023 MAAC Champions, the Marist Red Foxes (1-0) defeated the Bucknell Bison (0-2) in their 2024 season opener 17-10.
After going down 3-0 early in the first quarter, Marist’s first goal took seven shots, but the Red Foxes relied on their experience and great goalie play to overcome the strong Bison’s start. Senior attackmen Joshua Balcarcel led the Red Foxes on the day with eight points. For Balcarcel, it’s all thanks to the preparation the team had throughout the week.
“I really think it goes back to the week of preparation. We sat down, watched the defensive philosophy and saw what their tendencies were. And I think we did a really good job today exploiting that.” said Balcarcel “Also another thing was just trusting our guys. We have a young group offensively, but just knowing that we trust them to handle the ball and vice versa. So just reciprocating that, and continuing to build that chemistry on the field.”
Bucknell struck first with three straight goals in the first quarter, causing Marist head coach Keegan Wilkinson to call timeout with over 12 minutes left in the quarter.
It took Marist almost 11 minutes of action to get one past the Bison defense; it was Balcarcel who scored, cutting the Bucknell lead to 3-1. The Red Foxes netted back-to-back goals from graduate student midfielder Stephen Bickel and junior attackman Jake Deacy, tying the game at 3. Previous to these goals, Wilkinson lit a fire under his team.
“[The timeout] was basically to settle them down. Bucknell has got an incredible amount of talent on their team and a coaching staff that I can’t speak highly enough about,” said Wilkinson. “There’s a reason we play them every year, you know, and they had our number for seven or eight years in a row. And this program isn’t going to run from a challenge, that’s for sure.”
With nine seconds left in the first quarter, Balcarcel used his quickness once again to beat the Bison defense, his third point in only the first quarter. Entering the second quarter, freshman attackman Sean Mullen scored his first collegiate goal putting Marist up 5-3.
Bucknell needed a rebound goal and they got it from junior attackman Connor Davis, 5-4. On the ensuing faceoff, the speed of junior faceoff specialist Dylan Bedell beat all of the Bison defense as he scored his first goal of the season, extending Marist’s lead back to two.
Deacy then buried another one for the Red Foxes giving Marist a three-goal lead. The Red Foxes had a multitude of freshmen who received significant playing time today, one of those being attackman Collin Patrick, who scored two straight goals for the Red Foxes in his first collegiate start, making it 9-4.
Marist entered the second half with an 11-5 lead, led by Balcarcel who had three first-half goals. He stayed busy to start Marist’s scoring in the second half, once again sneaking by the Bison defense as he scored his fourth goal of the day.
In the fourth quarter, the Bison added on two early goals to cut the Marist lead down to 15-8. The Bison run did not last long as Red Foxes freshman midfielder Christian Colantonio ripped one to the back of the net, putting Marist back up 16-8. Marist and Bucknell would both score goals in the ladder part of the fourth quarter, but the lead was insurmountable for the Bison to overcome.
Marist defense was swarming in today’s matchup as the Red Foxes caused 10 turnovers today against the Bison offense. Graduate student midfielder Keenan DeRaeve, junior defender Aidan McCaffrey, and freshman defender Micheal Cassano all led the caused turnover category with two each on the day.
The goalie matchup was key in this game as two juniors faced off. Red Fox goalie Noble Smith held his own in between the pipes, making save after save for his defense. Smith finished with a career-high 18 saves on the day. His counterpart, goalie Max Nolan and sophomore goalie Jaz Zanelli combined for only seven stops for the Bison. For Smith, it is all about continuing to have a positive outlook on the field.
“Going off that mindset to stay present, making sure I get that first save,” said Smith. “It’s really just my mind that is the biggest thing for me right now. Focusing on that next play and next save.”
The Red Foxes are back in action next Saturday, February 17th, as they welcome a perennial opponent to the Hudson Valley, Jacksonville University. Opening faceoff is scheduled for 1 p.m. at Tenney Stadium.
Edited by Ben Leeds
Photo and graphic from Jaylen Rizzo
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