On Saturday afternoon in Long Island, New York Marist men’s lacrosse (3-1) defeated the Hofstra Pride (3-2) 12-10. After a fiery first quarter, the Red Foxes put in a strong defensive effort with junior goalie Noble Smith recording 13 saves. Freshman midfielder Sean Mullan led Marist with a hat-trick.
sophomore midfielder Vinny Butrico got the Red Foxes on the board first four minutes in. On back-to-back possessions, Hofstra scored two straight with goals from sophomore attackmen Anthony Mollica and graduate student midfielder Justin Sykes.
After tough riding on a Hofstra clear, Marist senior attackmen Josh Balcarcel found Mullan with free space for a score. On the ensuing possession, freshman midfielder Christian Coluntonnio used the open space to snipe a goal on an extra-man opportunity.
The Red Foxes closed off their first quarter run with goals from graduate student midfielders Stephen Bickel and Kennan DeRaeve to lead 5-2.
After almost 11 minutes of scoreless action in the second quarter, Hostra scored two straight in two minutes with Sykes and graduate student midfielder Sam Lufti to cut the Red Foxes’ lead to one at the half.
Both teams’ offenses stagnated for the first five minutes of the second half, but Bickel ended the scoring drought, netting his second of the game. The Marist defense held Hofstra’s best offensive player, attackman John Madsen, scoreless up until the 7:52 of the third quarter.
With two minutes left in the third quarter, Red Foxes junior midfielder Sam Ferrell netted his first goal of the game. Hofstra responded as Lufti and Madsen netted back-to-back goals tying the game at seven. At the end of the third quarter, the Hofstra Pride committed three penalties, giving the Red Foxes a three-man advantage going into the final frame.
The Red Foxes capitalized on the man advantage as Mullan scored 20 seconds into the fourth quarter. Three minutes later, Ferrell added on to his offensive day, scoring his second goal of the game giving Marst a 9-7 lead.
The Pride did back down all game, as this time graduate student attackmen Colton Rudd cut the deficit to one with six minutes remaining. The Pride got an equalizer from junior midfielder Griffin Turner one minute later.
Former Marist standout and Hofstra transfer long-stick midfielder JT Roselle committed a penalty on a faceoff and Mullan netted his third of the game on the extra-man. Marist added another goal less than a minute later from Butrico, but Madsen kept his team in the game with a quick goal.
The Pride ran out of time as Red Fox freshman attackman Colin Patrick secured the win with an open net goal.
Smith, who came into today ranked second in the MAAC in save percentage (55%) finished the game with 13 saves, constantly coming up with big stops for his team.
The road trip continues for the Red Foxes next Saturday, March 2nd as the team heads to Kentucky to play Bellarmine. Opening faceoff is at 12 p.m.
Edited By Marley Pope
Graphic By Jaylen Rizzo
Photo via Marist Athletics
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