Marist women’s lacrosse concluded their five-game road trip on a low note, falling to the Iona Gaels 17-12.
Marist (2-9, 1-1 MAAC) and Iona (3-6, 2-0 MAAC) entered the contest on similar footing, a result of having played tough out-of-conference games before MAAC play. Both teams started their MAAC campaigns with dominant victories.
Iona was led by a strong three-pronged attack—as senior midfielder Kira Varada, junior attacker Maliya Haddock, and senior attacker Kacie Scarduzio all finished with hat tricks.
Marist had a balanced attack, with four players reaching at least two goals—with junior midfielder Caitlin McNaboe being the lone Fox to tally three.
Sophomore goalkeeper Ava Giugliano set a season-high in saves with 17, posting a save percentage of 58.6%. On the flip side, sophomore goalkeeper Megan Morris allowed fifteen or more goals for the fourth time this season, as the Marist defense continues to struggle.
Senior attacker Alexa Borges opened up scoring for both sides with a strike three minutes into the game. Immediately after, the Foxes controlled the draw, allowing sophomore attacker Kate Gaven to add another score only 35 seconds later for a quick 2-0 lead.
After eight scoreless minutes by both sides, junior midfielder Jesse Manger scored on a feed from Borges for a 3-0 Red Fox run.
Iona picked it up late in the period. The Gaels goal-leader Varada finally put the Gaels on the board with a little over a minute to play. Striking again quickly, Haddock took advantage of a free-position look to put the Gaels within one at the end of the period.
The second period saw both sides’ offense erupt. Junior midfielders Sydney Grassi and Lindsey Grove went back-to-back for Iona to take its first lead 4-3. Senior midfielder Chloe Birckhead wasted no time in equalizing, finding the back of the net 30 seconds later to tie the game at four.
The back-and-forth continued, as Haddock converted her second free-position look for a 5-4 Iona advantage, just for McNaboe to strike back two minutes later for the third tie of the second period, 5-5.
This trend did not continue, as the Gaels ripped off a blindingly quick 3-0 run to pull ahead 8-5. Three different Iona players scored within a minute and thirty seconds, a defensive collapse that warranted a timeout from head coach Keith Detelj.
Sophomore attacker Annie Shine made her presence felt with a free-position goal to cut into the Iona run 8-6, but Haddock completed a first-half hat trick on exclusively free-position goals to put the Iona lead back at three to close the half 9-6.
The third period saw the gap grow even further in favor of Iona. Grove opened up the half with her second goal, restarting the momentum from the first half. After a goal from Varada and two straight for Scarduzio to secure a hat trick while the Gaels went up 13-6, capping a 5-0 run dating back to the end of the first half.
The Red Foxes scored two consecutive goals of their own to try to regain control, but Varanda went back-to-back for her third and fourth goals of the game to extend the Iona lead to seven entering the fourth.
Entering the final frame trailing 15-8, the Foxes needed to work efficiently after a second-half collapse. With quick goals from McNaboe—earning her a hat trick—and Shine, Marist crept up slowly and cut the Iona lead to five.
However, two more goals from Iona put the game out of reach, as they regained their seven-goal lead with not enough time left to mount a comeback. Two more Marist goals followed with thirty seconds left were rendered meaningless as the Foxes fell to the Gaels 17-12.
After a long stretch of road games, the Foxes will finally play at Tenney Stadium again, facing off against Merrimack on April 2 at 3 p.m.
Edited by Dan Aulbach
Photo from Kira Crutcher
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