Marist hockey is still left searching for its first win of the season after dropping the first game of their weekend doubleheader against the reigning SECHL Champions, the Clarkson Golden Knights.
Despite going down 4-1 in the final seconds of the second period and 5-2 in the third, the Red Foxes refused to let the game get away from them. They scored twice more in the third to make it a 5-4 game, but ultimately failed to find the game-tying goal.
“We’re starting to get our foundation on how we play, and we’re doing it in spurts,” said head coach Anthony LoBianco. “We need a 60-minute game, and two to three minutes of brain-dead hockey hurts us, but if we continue our process, we’ll get one and string some together.”
“We’re starting to get our groove,” added senior captain Sean Bruno. “Hopefully we get off to quicker starts and don’t have to come back every game, but at least we’re starting to score more now.”
Senior goaltender Anthony Russo was one of the main factors that kept the Red Foxes in the game. Despite letting up three goals in the second period, Russo weathered the storm and locked down for the third. He allowed only one goal and allowed Marist to make it a game.
“He’s our backbone,” said LoBianco. “When he’s on his game and is able to make some saves, it fuels the fire for us.”
Freshman TJ Fragoso was all over the ice for the Red Foxes, netting a goal and a couple of assists, as well as driving play every time he was on the ice. Getting strong play from the young guns has been beneficial to Marist early in the season.
“He’s a gamer, he plays well, he does the little things right,” said LoBianco. “That’s why he’s being rewarded; he’s a big piece in this puzzle right now.”
The first period started off relatively slowly for both teams, with neither team establishing early momentum. Brayden Kehoe took a tripping penalty to give Clarkson their first power play, but Marist killed it off with gritty and physical play topped off with Russo’s solid goaltending. Multiple stoppages due to both teams getting in their own way made the period drag on and full pressure hard to come by.
Fragoso opened scoring after finding a loose puck from a shot by junior Jack DiNicola, which bounced off Clarkson goaltender Colby Barley, and backhanded it in to put the Red Foxes up by one with just under seven minutes to go in the first.
Clarkson finally broke through with 13 seconds to go in the first. Forward Evan Collette took a drop pass from forward John Westrick and fired a shot that didn’t leave the ice.
The Golden Knights opened the floodgates in the second period. Marist found some chances to extend its lead but squandered them. The Golden Knights started to pressure Russo even more, but he wouldn’t break, coming up clutch to shut down most of them. Clarkson grabbed the upper hand after forward Brigham Dubey took the puck around the net and jammed it past Russo to take the lead.
After more second-period offensive pressure, Clarkson broke through once again in the dying seconds of the period. The Golden Knights took advantage of weak Marist defense as Nolan Olson cycled the puck to Westrick behind the net, with forward Thomas Brauer cutting to the slot with Bruno a step behind him, catching the pass and putting it through Russo’s five-hole.
30 seconds later, forward Landon Giroux buried defenseman James Papavasilou’s rebound to extend the lead. Like most games, the Red Foxes found themselves in a hole with 20 minutes left to play.
Marist came out of the second intermission motivated and pushed the pace early and got rewarded for it as forward Tyler Stoneman shot from the top right circle for a rebound, and Sean Mercogliano came bustling into the slot to put it past Barley and make it a two-goal game.
Clarkson responded right back, however. Forward Griffin Shaheen chipped the puck up to a wide-open Aidan Garcia with only one man back for Marist.
Marist took advantage of a power play, as Fragoso dropped the puck off to Declan Bayne in the slot for a shot, and Stoneman got his stick on it to make it a two-goal game.
At this point, it was do or die for Marist. The clock kept ticking, and they still had two more goals to get. Russo hunkered down as well and kept the score how it was, even making an acrobatic save to prevent a rebound from going in.
As Clarkson attempted to stifle the Marist momentum, a shot went off Stoneman, who gained possession and passed it up to Bayne going on the rush and getting around the defense to put the puck on net for Stoneman to bury for his second of the night.
It was a one-goal game with just under four minutes to go. Marist did everything they could for that final goal, pulling Russo with just under two minutes to play. That tying goal never came, and Clarkson held on for the victory.
The Red Foxes look to overcome their disappointment and split the doubleheader Saturday at 4:15.
Edited by Ben Leeds
Photo from Jaylen Rizzo
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