In a late-season MAAC conference matchup, Marist water polo eventually pulled away from Mount St. Mary’s, winning 11-7 and continuing their in-conference dominance.
Entering today, Marist (19-15, 8-2 MAAC) won seven of their last eight matches including road victories against Siena and Iona yesterday. With Marist’s hot streak coming in MAAC play, the Red Foxes entered the day atop the blue division while looking to stave off third-place Mount St. Mary’s (14-13, 4-6 MAAC), who trailed Marist by three games.
In a defensive first quarter, both teams struggled to get their attacks going. Freshman utility/defender Anita Radaelli made her presence felt throughout the quarter for the Mount with a blocked shot and scoring the game’s first goal at the 5:25 mark by sneaking one inside the left post.
Sophomore utility Paige Naegle found the equalizer for Marist less than a minute later, and towards the end of the first quarter, freshman utility Samantha Bentley earned a goal of her own to tie the score at 2-2.
Marist came out firing in the second quarter, as junior attacker Dean broke away from the pack and launched one from just beyond the two-meter line to put Marist ahead. Sophomore goaltender Inés Sánchez continued to shine for Marist, blocking a shot from Radaelli for the second time in the first half.
The back-and-forth scoring continued, as senior defensive reserve Ana Luisa Cotta tied the match at three with a goal from a bit further out. Junior utility Beatire Vieira then grabbed the lead back for the Mount with under three minutes left in the first half.
Marist responded yet again, as junior utility Victoria Padilla swam up the left side and buried a shot from near the two-meter line. Dean took a page out of her book on the next possession by scoring from nearly the exact same spot, giving Marist a 5-4 lead just before the break.
In the early portion of the third quarter, Naegle gave Marist a small cushion to work with by connecting on her second goal of the match.
The Red Foxes wasted no time continuing to build on their lead, as graduate student utility Shinae Carrington scored from the middle on the next Marist possession, putting the home team up 7-4.
Midway through the third quarter, the Mount cut into the lead on a goal from junior utility Rebecca Valentine. Padilla then pushed the Marist lead back to three by sending in a laser from the left side that tipped off the hands of junior goalkeeper Hannah Keyser and into the net.
Marist continued to torment Keyser, with Carrington encountering multiple one-on-one situations with the Mount’s goalkeeper. With a minute remaining in the quarter, Carrington finessed the ball past Keyser to put Marist ahead 9-5 with eight minutes left to play.
The Mount did not go down without a fight, as freshman utility Taylor Wilson opened the fourth-quarter scoring by rainbowing in a shot from across the pool. Once again, Marist immediately clapped back, with junior center Ella Baumgarten joining in on the scoring with a goal of her own.
Vieria made things interesting by ricocheting in a shot to make it 10-7 with just over four minutes remaining, but it proved to be too little too late for the Mountaineers.
Senior utility Kaylee Brard subsequently connected on her first goal of the day, effectively clinching the game with a few minutes remaining.
Marist will look to continue their standout performance in the MAAC conference when they take on Iona later today at 5 p.m. in another home match.
The Gaels currently sit just behind Marist in the blue division standings, and Marist slipped past them in a 10-9 thriller on Saturday.
Edited by Marley Pope
Photo from Kira Crutcher
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