Marist men’s lacrosse defeated a prominent opponent in Jacksonville on Saturday afternoon 9-8 in overtime. The matchup featured low-scoring and gritty defensive play by both teams at Tenney Stadium.
The Red Foxes’ (2-0) defense swarmed Jacksonville (1-1) all game where Marist junior standout defender Aidan McCaffrey caused three of the team’s 10 forced turnovers today.
“McCaffrey, you know, the second matchup in a row where he’s neutralized an incredibly good player starting with Bucknell last week, and then this week; he’s proving that he’s one of the better defenders you know, around,” said Marist head coach Keegan Wilkinson.
After being down 6-2, an all-around effort and a three-goal run in the third quarter propelled the Red Foxes to come back and ultimately win. Sophomore midfielder Drew Anderson had four goals in today’s matchup. At half-time, the Red Foxes found a spark that led them to victory.
“We were not being relentless and not capitalizing on the mistakes that they [Jacksonville] made early,” said Anderson. “We got into the locker room at halftime we said these guys aren’t gonna slide. We came out in the second half and we drove to the near pipe and finished the ball.”
After a series of turnovers by both teams Jacksonville scored on back-to-back possessions. First, junior attackman Jackon Intrieri netted the opener and redshirt junior attackman Ethan LaMond snuck one past Red Foxes junior goalie Noble Smith on the following possession.
Jacksonville scored another goal from junior midfielder Charlie DiGennaro, his first collegiate goal, to put Jacksonville ahead 3-0 with six minutes left in the first quarter. The Red Foxes found themselves desperate for a goal coming out of the media timeout. Marist freshman midfielder Sean Mullan granted those wishes to narrow to get the Red Foxes on the board.
To open the second quarter Jacksonville’s graduate student midfielder Chris Darminio put the Dolphins back up by three goals seven seconds into the quarter. After an eight-point performance last week, Marist senior attackman Joshua Balcarcel delivered a big-time goal.
Jacksonville responded with an acrobatic goal from sophomore attackman Nicky Brown. Both teams went scoreless in the last four minutes of the second quarter.
The Dolphins opened up the second half with a goal from Intrieri, his second of the game. Marist needed a goal and they got one from their man-up unit where Mullan finished a long-range shot.
Marist got hot with three straight goals from freshman midfielder Christian Colantonio and two from Anderson to tie the matchup at six goals a piece with two minutes left in the third. The Red Foxes’ defense stalled the Dolphin’s offense, not allowing a goal for 13 minutes of action in the third quarter.
After a scoreless stretch in the fourth quarter, Jacksonville broke the tie with a goal from Brown. Anderson scored his third of the game just a minute later, tying the game at seven.
With under four minutes remaining in the game, Jacksonvilles’ redshirt senior midfielder Tucker Garrity scored to retake the Dolphins lead. On the ensuing possession, Anderson netted his fourth of the game yet again tying the game. The game would be sent to overtime and with thirty seconds left, junior attackman Jake Deacy sent the Red Fox faithful into a frenzy with the game-winner off a feed from Mullan.
This game featured two goalies who caught fire in the first game of their respective seasons. Jacksonville’s junior netminder Ryan Della Rocco recorded 21 saves last week against Binghamton and finished with 15 today. For the Red Foxes, Smith, who had 17 saves last week, kept Marist close with 16 saves.
“That’s [Jacksonville] a talented and well-coached team. We knew we would have to be buckled down on the defensive side,” said Wilkinson. “What Noble Smith has been doing these first two weeks is unbelievable and I know that everybody in our locker rooms is insanely proud of him.”
After today’s matchup, the Red Foxes will head to Massachusetts to play UMASS on Tuesday, February 20th. Opening faceoff is scheduled for 3 p.m.
Edited By Marley Pope
Graphic and Photo By Jaylen Rizzo
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