Marist defeated the Villanova Wildcats in the MAAC semifinals 9-5, punching their ticket to the program’s 13th MAAC championship contest in search of their sixth NCAA tournament appearance. Junior goaltender Inés Sánchez anchored the Red Foxes in the win by making 13 saves, including four in the final period.
Villanova (21-12, 7-5 MAAC) brought plenty of fans who occupied most of the middle section at McCann Natatorium, but Marist (24-10, 8-3 MAAC) fans showed up in far greater numbers to root on their team.
“Villanova brought their village, which is cool, but I think our sport on this campus, people appreciate it,” said head coach Chris Vidale.
MAAC Rookie of the Year Riley Hull opened with a sprint win, something she did 41 times in the regular season, but poor passing forced an early turnover.
Though Marist could not capitalize off that turnover nor score in the opening three minutes, their defense stood tall. The Red Foxes forced three turnovers and blocked two shots in the contest.
“We took a hard loss from them three weeks ago. When we got back from that, it was back to the lab, and we had to change some stuff,” said Vidale, “it was the hockey talk: protecting the crease and getting out to the people you need to knock down.”
Sophomore utility Samantha Bentley opened the scoring 3:18 seconds into play off an assist by senior attack Liana Hunt. Hunt found the back of the net on the next possession to give Marist an early 2-0 lead. Marist shared the rock, allowing seven different Red Foxes to score and eight to tally at least one point.
Hull and MAAC Defensive Player of the Year Adrienne Grimes knotted the game at two with goals before closing the period. Sánchez, however, tallied save after save, including highlight-reel stops.
In the second period, sophomore attacker Kendell De Beer struck on back-to-back possessions for her two goals of the game within 35 seconds to propel Marist back in front.
“I wasn’t really thinking in the game. I just saw the opportunity, and I took it. I saw the open cage, and I took the shot,” said De Beer.
“The kid put them team on her back, and I want to give her that confidence every game we play and even at practices,” added Vidale.
Despite two goals in the period from the Wildcats, Sánchez continued to dominate, particularly on penalty shots. The junior from Barcelona stopped three penalty shots on three attempts.
After junior attacker Anna Painter cut the deficit to one, junior attack Lela McCarroll followed De Beer by scoring back-to-back goals herself.
“I took what I saw,” said McCarroll. “Every single time I have that little opportunity where I see a window open in the cage, I’m going to take it.”
Sánchez continued to hold her ground in the cage to retain the Red Fox lead. She finished with 13 saves, only five goals against and a .722 save percentage on the day.
Senior center Ella Baumgarten and junior utility Paige Naegle scored twice in the third period, with Painter’s second goal of the game sandwiched in between. Marist took an 8-5 lead into the fourth period.
The Red Foxes added one more goal in the final period from senior attacker Rachel Dean with 2:30 to go; however, the story of the period was not focused on the offense.
Backed by a strong defense, Sánchez continued her career day with four critical saves in the frame.
“It starts with the press, and then from there you start figuring out where the pieces are,” said Vidae. “A block party is always a fun party.”
On one of the saves with four minutes left to play, Sánchez swiped the ball away when it was inches away from crossing the line. After that play, the fans got loud for Sánchez.
Throughout the remaining four minutes, Marist’s goaltender received echoing chants from the stands on four different occasions, ranging from “MVP” to “you can’t stop her.”
“It’s really cool to see [the] Marist community. I’m really grateful,” said Sánchez.
After the Red Foxes closed out the 9-5 victory, the chants continued. Fans lined the halls of the McCann Center to congratulate the Red Foxes on advancing to the MAAC championship for the 13th time in program history. Specifically, they congratulated Sánchez with yet another MVP chant.
“I’m a little bummed that she didn’t make an all-conference team. I think she showed that she should at least be in the conversation,” said Vidale.
With the victory, Marist will face a difficult opponent in Wagner for the 10th time in MAAC championship history. The Seahawks took care of the Red Foxes in eight of their nine prior postseason matchups, including six years in a row from 2014 to 2019.
Marist will look to snap its 21-game losing streak against Wagner and claim its 14th win against them in program history tomorrow at noon in McCann Natatorium.
Edited by Ben Leeds
Graphic and photo by Kira Crutcher
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