Marist men’s soccer clung onto a two-goal lead for dear life while playing down a man, emerging as 2-1 winners against the Quinnipiac Bobcats without star goalkeeper Jamie Lowell in the later minutes.
With the win, Marist advances to the MAAC semifinals for the first time since 2021; their opponent will be determined after Sunday’s slate of playoff matches concludes and the remaining teams are reseeded.
“It’s crazy. I definitely wasn’t expecting it, not at all,” Marist sophomore goaltender Dreni Idrizi said in an ESPN+ postgame interview after entering the match late for the injured Lowell and making a string of season-altering saves. “Jamie had a f*****g excellent game, and I’m just happy to come up for my boys.”
Just before the 12-minute mark, Quinnipiac had the first major scoring opportunity of the match. Senior midfielder Noe Cabezas drove deep into the box, but sophomore defender Nicholas Sanchez came up with a huge stop and cleared the ball out of harm’s way. Sanchez came to play on Sunday, as he and the entire Marist backline ended numerous Quinnipiac possessions before quickly redistributing the ball upfield.
Marist drew first blood in the 18th minute on a methodical possession featuring several well-placed passes, culminating in an extraordinary play in front of the goal. From far out on the left side, freshman defender/winger Evan Marques sent a high-arcing pass toward sophomore midfielder Kyle Evans in front of the right post. To keep the ball from flying past the end line, Evans headed it out of midair to sophomore midfielder Arion Ulaj, who was set up perfectly right in front of the net.
Ulaj, who broke out with two goals and four assists this season after missing all of 2023 with an ACL injury, drilled the ball to the left of junior goalkeeper Karl Netzell to put Marist ahead 1-0.
Marist had an utterly dominant first half; the Red Foxes outshot Quinnipiac 10-0 with five shots on goal.
“We’re playing quick, we’re playing at a tempo, the guys are pressing [Quinnipiac] when we have the ability to,” said Marist head coach Matt Viggiano during an ESPN+ halftime interview. “Quinnipiac’s a good team, so we know what’s coming in the second half.”
“We’ve just gotta show up,” said Quinnipiac head coach Eric Da Costa at the half. “I don’t think we had a particularly good first half. Obviously, the wind is a factor. We’re having a little bit of difficulty getting out. We have to play, we have to get the ball down, we have to move better off the ball and just connect some passes.”
Senior forward Richard Morel kept applying pressure for Marist by launching a promising shot in the 53rd minute, but it sailed just over Netzell and above the goal.
In the 58th minute, a replay review on an aggressive Quinnipiac defensive play led to a changed call that put Marist in the driver’s seat for the remainder of the match. Graduate student defender Terrance Wilder Jr. made what appeared to be a borderline physical play on sophomore midfielder Adam Rustami, but no foul was initially called. After the play, a VAR review led to a foul call on Wilder Jr. inside the box, setting Marist up with a penalty kick.
Morel lined up to take the kick and drilled his shot into the top right corner of the goal, doubling Marist’s lead and putting Quinnipiac’s season on life support.
Lowell earned his stripes on a pair of ensuing possessions, first saving a shot by Cabezas in the 59th minute, then making a more ridiculous save a minute later. Cabezas fed the ball up to first-year forward Andrew Monteserin, initially appearing to slip by Lowell, who managed to punch the ball out of the goal just in the nick of time.
After a physical play culminated just outside the box in the 62nd minute, the officials got together for an unusually lengthy video review. Afterward, the officials assigned a red card to freshman defender Gijs Verheul, forcing Marist to play a man down for the remainder of the match. The 10-plus minute stoppage in play blunted Marist’s momentum and gave the Bobcats a new lease on life.
Sure enough, Quinnipiac got back into the match with 18 minutes remaining. Junior forward Ramesh Delsouz lined up to take a free kick from outside the box, and he booted his shot past Lowell to cut Marist’s lead in half.
Lowell then exited the match with an apparent injury with just over a dozen minutes remaining, forcing Idrizi to go in goal for Marist despite only playing 163 minutes this season. With Marist still playing down a man, Idrizi faced constant pressure yet made three clutch saves down the stretch to preserve the lead and send Marist through to the next round.
“I’m proud of the guys, it’s a team win,” said Viggiano in an ESPN+ postgame interview. “Obviously, with Dreni coming on, he made a huge save and just us gutting it out after going down a man, I’m just proud of our guys.”
Marist will continue their quest for a MAAC title on Nov. 14 in the MAAC semifinal round with their opponent and kickoff time are to be announced. With a win, the Red Foxes can clinch a spot in the MAAC Championship Final on Nov. 17.
Edited by Dan Aulbach
Graphic by Victoria Guardino
Photo Credit: Jaylen Rizzo
For more coverage of Marist athletics, follow @cfmarist on Instagram, X and TikTok, and sign up to receive daily alerts here.
