With just two games left in the season, the Marist Red Foxes looked to end on a high note and carry that momentum into the playoffs. That momentum increased after a thrilling 3-2 comeback victory over Roger Williams University at the McCann Ice Arena.
Going down 2-0 in the first period, the game was shaping up to be another one where the floodgates opened, and the Red Foxes would get buried in an insurmountable deficit – especially against a team they lost to 8-3 back in December. That was not the story this time. Marist club hockey stuck with the game, cleaned up their mistakes, and grinded away, all the way until Tyler Stoneman’s game-winning goal on a 5-on-3 power play late in the third period.
“Mistakes are gonna happen, so it’s all about how you’re gonna battle that adversity,” said Coach Anthony LoBianco. “We did a great job in responding.”
In the middle of the second period, assistant captain Sean Bruno found himself on a rush to the net, but was taken down hard and had to be helped off the ice. Seeing one of their leaders go down, there was no choice but to go out there and get the win for Bruno.
“[Bruno] is the heart and soul of this team; we all love him,” said Stoneman. “To see him go down like that after a cheap shot, there was no way we were losing this game after that.”
“It’s always hard when a leader goes down like that, but it’s the response of everybody around them [that matters],” added LoBianco. “It goes to show the leadership he has. He knew we had it; he put his faith in us.”
Sophomore goaltender Adam D’Errico was one of the main factors in why the Red Foxes were able to pull the comeback off. Despite letting in two first-period goals, he shut Roger Williams down the rest of the way, making clutch save after clutch save, bailing his squad out countless times.
“As soon as our goalies make big saves, our bench gets alive,” said LoBianco.
“One goes by, and you just try to forget about it,” said D’Errico. “Just move on, make the next save, worry about the next shot.”
Roger Williams got right to work in the first period, scoring just under a minute and thirty seconds into the game, after forward Joseph Young forced a turnover off a miscommunication between Jack Woodhead and Bobby LaBonia, taking the breakaway and putting it right past D’Errico.
The Red Foxes had the chance to respond on special teams after a penalty on defenseman Barrett Becotte, but burned themselves once again. Defenseman James Stevens attempted to keep the puck from going into the neutral zone, but his weak tap-in was chipped away by forward and captain Jack Woods, who darted down the ice, shook off defenseman Richie Williams and made a nifty move on D’Errico to put the Hawks up two, not even ten minutes into the game.
After that second goal, a switch seemingly flipped in their way. They didn’t let a raindrop turn into a hurricane. They tightened it up, played solid defense, and pushed for offense, but nothing got past Roger Williams goaltender Claden Daubney at first.
Stoneman almost gave the Red Foxes their first goal of the game on a wrap-around shot, but Daubney got right on top of it. Marist went into the locker room still down two, but everyone in the building could feel they weren’t going down easily.
Marist was finally rewarded for its offensive efforts a minute and a half into the second period. Forward Declan Bayne found Sean Mercogliano in front of the net off the rush, and he buried the puck after missing the first shot he had to put Marist on the board.
Marist went right back to work, and defenseman Ryan Wicker drew a tripping penalty on forward Jacob LaPierre, and Bayne tied it up right after, getting the rebound off Stoneman’s shot from the slot.
From there, the game turned into a tight defensive battle with goalie theatrics sprinkled in. D’Errico made an impressive save going post to post to keep the game tied at two, and the Red Foxes played solid defense while continuing to up their offensive pressure.
Bruno looked to give the Red Foxes the lead, but his night was cut short after being taken down on a rush to the net. The fire the Red Foxes needed to finish out this game and complete the comeback was ignited.
D’Errico and Daubney went save for save as the period wound down, saving multiple quality chances when relied upon. D’Errico’s workload increased heavily as the third period began, shutting down a two-on-one out of the gates while the Red Foxes came out of the locker room sloppier.
Daubney did the exact same, stuffing even more quality chances and single-handedly keeping the game tied.
The third period saw major shifts in physicality and chippiness, with multiple 4-on-4’s occurring and activity after the whistle. Two consecutive Roger Williams penalties gave the Red Foxes a 5-on-3 advantage with 7:43 to go. They called a timeout and drew up the play to break the game open.
James Stevens received the puck at the blue line, shifted it over to Stoneman, who walked in and ripped it on net, right past Daubney. 3-2 Red Foxes.
“I saw [Stevens] get the puck, and I knew what we were working on in practice yesterday,” said Stoneman. “I didn’t control the puck very well, [Stevens] gave me a strong pass, but I just tried controlling the shot and hoped for it.”
The Hawks weren’t just going away, however. They did everything in their power to bring the tie back, but the Foxes only bent, but did not break. D’Errico made his most clutch save of the game: a stick save right in front that forward Nick Fasano tried jamming in, but couldn’t get it past D’Errico’s last line of defense. The Red Foxes held it down the rest of the way en route to the victory.
Later today, they play Central Connecticut for the season finale and senior day, before gearing up for SECHL playoffs next week.
Edited by Ben Leeds
Photo by Jaylen Rizzo
For more coverage of Marist athletics, follow @cfmarist on Instagram, X, TikTok and Bluesky, and sign up to receive daily alerts here.