Marist water polo trekked to Santa Clara, California this past weekend for the Bronco Invitational, and they defeated the No. 13 team in the country, the University of the Pacific, by one goal. The Red Foxes ended the invitational undefeated on the weekend.
On Friday, Marist (10-10) used a hat trick and all-around standout performance from junior attacker Rachel Dean to overcome ranked opponent UOP 11-10. Later in the day, they nabbed another win, topping Concordia University Irvine 15-9. They continued their winning streak on Saturday by blowing out Santa Clara University 18-4 and California State University Monterey Bay 21-9.
Marist started strong against Pacific with sophomore attack Lela McCarroll winning the sprint for Marist against junior attacker Addison McGowan. Pacific graduate student center Hailey Williams put the first on the score sheet with 6:44 remaining in the first quarter. The goal came off a pass from junior attacker Ilyana Zlobinsky.
35 seconds later, sophomore utility Paige Naegle evened the score for the Red Foxes off a pass from Dean. With a little under five minutes left in the first, Dean drew an exclusion call against UOP senior attacker Annikah Lillie, sending Marist into a power play. 20 seconds into the powerplay, graduate student utility Shinae Carrington found the back of the net, with none other than Dean responsible for the assist.
Marist led by one at the end of the first quarter (3-2). The Red Foxes maintained their lead consistently throughout the entirety of what ended up being a close affair, preventing Pacific from taking the lead at any point.
By the start of the fourth quarter, Marist had extended their lead by five.
In the final four minutes of the match, Pacific went on a three-goal streak. Zlobinsky scored the team’s fifth goal of the fourth quarter with just 1:27 left on the clock, and Marist’s once comfortable five-goal lead had been trimmed down to just one.
Immediately after Zlobinskys’ goal, the Red Foxes called a full timeout. Marist ultimately prevented Pacific from scoring for the remainder of the gamer, eeking out an 11-10 victory. Seven different players recorded goals for the Red Foxes in the win against UOP, and Dean recorded a hat trick.
Marist continued to apply pressure throughout the remainder of their matches.
In their second match against Concordia, Marist trailed at the end of the first quarter by one and went into halftime with the score tied at seven. Marist pulled away In the third quarter, with the Red Foxes scoring six goals, whereas Concordia scored just one.
Marist ultimately won by a six-goal margin, with Naegle contributing six scores in the win to go along with four from junior center Ella Baumgarten.
On Saturday, Marist faced Santa Clara University and California State University Monterey Bay. In both games, the Red Foxes’ opponents were not able to maintain any sort of lead.
In the game against Santa Clara, Marist led by seven at halftime and ended up winning the game 18-4. Baumgarten scored four goals in the win, and senior utility Kaylee Brard picked up three. Sophomore goalie Inés Sánchez also had a standout performance, tallying a season-high 17 saves in the win.
In the final game of the invite, Marist faced UC Monterey Bay, where they took an early three-goal advantage (4-1). By the half, Marist led by four goals; the Red Foxes went on to score seven more goals in the third quarter, taking a commanding 15-7 lead.
Hansberger and Naegle each scored four in the win. In each win against SCU and CSUMB, five different Red Foxes scored a pair of goals.
Overall, Naegle and Baumgarten led the team in goals throughout the invitational. Naegle recorded 12 total goals and Baumgarten buried 10 in the back of the net. The Red Foxes will play their next four matchups on March 1 and 2 in Claremont, California. They are slated to face off against two ranked teams in fifth-ranked UC Irvine and 23rd-ranked San Diego State University.
Edited by Luke Sassa
Graphic by Cara Lacey; Photo from Kira Crutcher
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