Marist men’s lacrosse handled LIU on both sides of the ball en route to a convincing 15-8 win over on senior day. Nine seniors were honored before the start of the game in the Red Foxes’ last home game of the regular season.
“We were eager to get out here to represent for the senior class and for the alums that were back in town,” said head coach Keegan Wilkinson.
Freshman attackman Sean Mullan tallied four goals, sophomore attackman Peter Murray netted a hat trick and senior attackman Joshua Balcarcel added two goals and two assists to power an electric offensive performance by Marist (7-6, 4-4 MAAC Conference).
“Senior days are for everyone because it’s an opportunity to reflect and realize how short four years is and how fast it goes by,” said Balcarcel.
The Red Foxes scored eight goals in the second quarter to build a substantial lead at halftime that they maintained in the second half to cruise to their third straight win.
Junior goalie Noble Smith turned in another strong performance with 16 saves. Defenders Aidan McCaffrey and Joshua Arneson picked up six and four ground balls each. McCaffrey set the single-season program record for caused turnovers (31) and is three away from the all-time program record in just two seasons of play.
Marist looked to extend their two-game win streak, with their last win over Siena on Wednesday night propelled them into the last playoff spot. LIU (9-3, 6-2 MAAC Conference) traveled upstate with just one loss in their last 10 games, including two straight victories.
Mullan opened the scoring with a left-handed snipe. Both teams committed turnovers early, and Marist maintained a one-goal lead with 5:54 remaining in the first quarter.
Murray finished an inside look to double the Red Foxes’ lead. The Sharks got on the board with under three minutes left in the first quarter via sophomore attackman Cam Connolly.
LIU redshirt junior attackman Mark Reagan converted on the extra-man a minute later to tie the game at two. Mullan tallied another with a drive to the middle of the field and a snipe to the bottom corner. LIU redshirt junior midfielder Owen Stefanko answered back less than a minute later.
Freshman Christian Colantonio got involved with a caused turnover on one end and a goal on the other to give Marist a 4-3 lead with 8:36 left in the second quarter.
“To see the intensity tonight tells you a lot about our team’s toughness. On a short week with limited prep against a talented team, our guys were dialed in the last couple of days,” said Wilkinson.
Just 20 seconds later, freshman long stick midfielder Micahel Cassano picked up a ground ball and went to the rack to score his third goal of the season for the Red Foxes.
To cap a 1:06 minute 3-0 flurry, Balcarcel nailed a jump shot to force an LIU timeout with the Red Foxes leading 6-3. Mullan finished a first-half hat trick with a confident dodge to the cage and sneaking in a tight-angled shot.
“We saw that [LIU] was slow to slide so that gave us the green light to try to get to the rack early,” said Balcarcel. “Once goals started hitting, we kept our heads up to be feeders.”
The Red Foxes owned every ounce of momentum in the second quarter, with freshman Collin Patrick finishing an open goal after Sharks redshirt freshman goalie Jasper Simon cleared the ball and attempted a shot on the opposite end of his goal.
LIU needed a goal badly after Marist’s barrage, and freshman attackman Aidan Zuhoski got one back with 3:13 left in the first half as the Sharks trailed 9-4.
After LIU opened the scoring in the second half while on the extra-man, Murray completed his hat trick to maintain Marist’s six-goal lead.
The pace slowed in the third period but LIU continued to work on chipping the lead; the Sharks’ leading scorer graduate attackman Sean Boll got on the board.
Mullan scored a fourth to beat the buzzer at the end of the third quarter and Marist entered the final frame leading 13-7.
With Marist ahead 14-7 with six minutes left in the fourth quarter, Wilkinson gave some of his players who have not seen the field as much some deserved playing time in the closing minutes.
Senior attackmen Alex DiVincentis scored the first goal of his career to send the Marist bench and fans into a frenzy.
“That class has been the hardest working group that I’ve been around,” said graduate student midfielder Keenan DeRaeve. “It’s awesome to see how far this group of senior has come since their freshman year.”
The Red Foxes are getting hot at the perfect time, especially when their backs are against the wall due to their standing in the MAAC.
“We are hitting our stride at the right time. The same process happened last year towards the end of the season. Peter Murray moving down to attack and Josh [Balcarcel] back at midfield has made us really dynamic,” said Wilkinson.
Marist finishes the regular season on the road against VMI on Saturday, April 12. Faceoff at Drill Field #2 in Lexington, VA is scheduled for noon.
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Edited by Jimmy Tsiantoulas
Photo by Jaylen Rizzo
