Marist water polo (21-10, 6-3 MAAC) swept two critical MAAC contests to open their four-game stint at the weekend’s Courtney Fisher Invite. With the victories, the Red Foxes clinched their 21st consecutive MAAC playoff berth (excluding the 2020 season, which was canceled due to COVID-19).
In the first game, the Red Foxes topped the Siena Saints (3-21, 1-8 MAAC), 10-5, after honoring five seniors for senior day: attack Liana Hunt, defender Claudia Lee, center Ella Baumgarten, attacker Rachel Dean and utility Victoria Padilla.
Lockdown defense on both sides prevented shots on goal for the first 2:30. Junior goaltender Inés Sánchez faced her first shot 3:30 into play and made her first of 17 saves. After Siena set a program record for most goals in a conference game in their 23-16 defeat against No. 19 Wagner on April 6, Sánchez held the Saints to just five goals.
“I think the field players did a really good job pressing, and that’s why I had so many saves,” said Sánchez, “that helped a lot.”
Marist opened the scoring when sophomore utility Samantha Bentley found the back of the net with 4:37 left in the first quarter. Sophomore attacker/center Emily Scheerer followed up with her first goal of the day 48 seconds later. She finished with a hat trick as one of two Red Foxes with a multi-goal game.
However, junior utility Parker Thomas quickly responded with a goal 30 seconds later. She finished with two goals as the only Saint to record multiple goals.
Sophomore attacker Kendell De Beer began the second quarter with back-to-back goals, extending the Marist lead to 4-1. She led the game’s goal scorers with four goals.
“I saw the open cage, and if there’s nobody in a better position than I am, I [took] the shot and [didn’t] really think about it too much,” said De Beer.
Despite the lead, the Red Foxes committed three penalties that aided three unanswered goals for the Saints. Thomas and sophomore attacker Rebecca Currie connected to put the game within one score. The MAAC leader in goals and points, sophomore attacker Catherine Williamson, then tied the game less than a minute later.
Marist did not want to spoil their 47-1 program record against Siena, striking the net twice within the final 46 seconds of the half. Junior attack Lela McCarroll and junior utility Paige Naegle notched the critical goals to give the Red Foxes a 6-4 lead at the break.
The goals aided ninth-year head coach Chris Vidale’s second-half gameplan. At halftime, his plan was simple.
“Put the ball in the back of the net,” said Vidale, “do your job, and everything else is easier for everybody.”
The team responded well to the message, continually putting pressure on the Saints in the second half, which pleased the head coach.
“If you can give me two to three minutes of high energy and they have to keep their same people in, we have fresh legs going in all the time […] It’s a we thing, not a me thing. That’s always been our focus,” said Vidale.
Marist shut out Siena in the third quarter and added two more goals in the fourth to close out the 10-5 victory.
The Red Foxes continued their win streak with a 12-8 victory over the Mount St. Mary’s Mountaineers (15-13, 4-7 MAAC) in the Red Fox’s second senior day game.
Marist came out of the gate hot with a sprint win by De Beer and an early goal from Baumgarten on the game’s first shot. She led Marist with the lone Red Fox hat trick.
“I think when you play a team as aggressive as the Mount, they make sure to drop back,” said Baumgarten, “they do an ‘M’ defense, so it prevents me from getting the ball, and I think every once in a while they kind of let up in a sense. That allows the ball to get into me a little bit more.”
With 5:49 left in the first quarter, junior utility Anna Kegel capitalized on a penalty shot to tie the game. The Mount proceeded to connect on their next two shots from sophomore utility/defender Anita Radaelli and senior utility Hannah Sayre.
However, Marist fired back with two goals in the last 1:03: the first from Dean and the second from Padilla with seven seconds remaining, tying the game at three apiece. Dean finished with two goals and an important sprint win in the fourth.
Hunt broke a lull in the second quarter with her first of two goals early in the quarter. The following two possessions also saw goals: one from Radaelli and the other by Dean.
Despite her slow start, Sánchez found her zone in the remaining 25 minutes. She compiled six saves over the time frame, four of which came in the third. Marist never looked back from the 5-4 lead Dean’s goal gave them.
“I think the last three quarters we did a really good job [on] defense. We did a lot of press, and the first quarter we were a little distracted, but we were able to lock in again and figure it out,” said Sánchez.
Backed by Sánchez and continuous missed shots from the Mount, the Red Foxes took a 7-5 lead into the half.
Sánchez allowed just two goals throughout the third quarter, which Marist accompanied with four goals. Despite turnovers from both sides, the Red Foxes entered the fourth quarter with a four-goal lead.
Seven different Red Foxes scored against the Mount, which pleased Vidale.
“[I] hate the [Golden State] Warriors, but [there’s] strength in numbers, and I try [to] do that. Everyone played today outside of the reverse goalies,” said Vidale.
Bad turnovers led to the lone two goals in the fourth, which occurred 49 seconds apart. However, both teams stood tall defensively in the final 5:39, especially Marist, who forced multiple turnovers.
“You can’t be soft. [You] can’t be a punk,” said Vidale about his team’s ability to play aggressive on press defense.
Marist gets right back to the pool with a double-header in New Rochelle today in an effort to clinch a one-seed in the playoffs. They face Siena once more in a neutral game at 1:30 p.m. and then close out the regular season at Iona at 4:00 p.m.
Edited by Dan Aulbach
Photo from Cassidy Connors
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