After splitting both matches the previous two weekends, Marist club hockey took the road to take on rival Siena for the first game of the Route 87 Cup. The stakes were higher than ever for this clash between two storied rivals, earning Game of the Week honors on Hockey House.
After being swept by Siena last year, not winning the series since 2020 and only beating them twice in the last five seasons, the Foxes came into tonight’s game with a chip on their shoulders. Marist aimed to put their recent woes against their bitter rival behind them and turn a new page with a win, and that’s exactly what they did in a 5-2, win putting them up 1-0 in the series and a step closer to bragging rights.
In a rivalry game, penalties are almost always expected to come in bunches, as the physicality ticks up a notch with much more to play for. Between both teams, a combined 14 penalties were incurred, six of them committed by Marist. Being on the penalty kill has been very familiar territory for this Red Foxes squad early into the season, as they currently lead the SECHL in penalty minutes.
In this match, Marist tightened up and killed off penalties, stifling all of Siena’s powerplay opportunities alongside the help of big saves by junior goaltender AJ Schauder. They also burned the Saints when they had the man advantage as well, scoring three of their four goals on the powerplay, with two coming from assistant captain Sean Bruno and one off a four-on-three advantage by junior defenseman Richard Williams.
Alongside those goals, the Red Foxes also scored on a breakaway goal from sophomore defenseman Alex Armada late in the second period to put the icing on the cake. Siena did end up getting on the board to open the third period and picked up their pace of play, upping offensive zone pressure and even adding another goal with six minutes to go to trim the deficit, but it was too little too late. A late roughing penalty stifled all Siena momentum, as Williams added another powerplay goal late, putting the nail in the coffin en route to a Marist victory.
Schauder was once again lights out for the Foxes in their victory and stood on his head most of the match. Time and time again, he came up with big saves to keep Marist in the game, especially when they were down a man. Schauder was one of the key reasons Siena was able to convert on only one powerplay opportunity. He added another quality start, as he has only allowed five goals through his first three starts while cementing himself as a key pillar of this squad.
On the road ahead, Marist will travel back to Connecticut to take on Connecticut College at 9:30 p.m. tonight. Marist will look to sweep both games of from their weekend slate for the first time this season.
Edited by Luke Sassa
Graphic by Lucas Baquero; Photo from Marist Athletics
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