The Marist Red Foxes, led by their unstoppable offense, finished the Convergence Invitational with a record of 4-0 and improved their overall record to 16-4.
The weekend kicked off at the Allred Aquatics Center with the Red Foxes taking on the Biola Eagles, who entered the matchup holding an overall record of 2-12.
The Eagles struck first after sophomore utility Destiny Moreno received a pass from sophomore utility Alyah Ibarra and buried it in the back of the net to give Biola a 1-0 lead. Biola maintained their lead throughout the quarter; senior utility Mia Mulhall scored two first-period goals to give the Eagles a 3-2 lead at the end of the first quarter.
Despite Biola’s early success, the No. 18 Red Foxes began to find a rhythm offensively, outscoring the Eagles 3-1 in the second period with goals from sophomore center Elaia Berecibar, junior attacker Kendall DeBeer and freshman Jolanta Szentpali to flip the script and give the Red Foxes a 5-4 lead heading into halftime.
The Red Foxes carried the momentum into the second half with Berecibar and DeBeer each notching their second goal of the game while the Marist defense continued to suffocate the Biola offense.
Marist put the Eagles in the fourth period, scoring three additional goals and highlighted by a defense that held Biola to only one second-half goal, guiding Marist to a 10-5 victory to begin the weekend.
Later that night, Marist took on the University of La Verne, a team with an abysmal points-for-points-against ratio of 110-382 and still in search for their first win of the season.
From the jump, the Leopards struggled to keep pace with the explosive Marist offense; the Red Foxes took a commanding 9-0 lead at the end of the first period.
The Red Foxes showed off their impressive depth as 13 different players scored goals for Marist, highlighted by junior Anita Radaelli and senior utility Paige Naegle, who each logged six points.
La Verne was never able to create any offensive momentum, and senior goalie Ines Sanchez recorded five saves, which is the same number of saves two Leopard goalies had combined.
Marist never took their foot off the gas, scoring an additional 10 goals in the second half and outscoring the Leopards 10-3 en route to an utterly dominant 25-6 victory.
On Saturday, Marist began the first of their final two games against the Cal State Monterey Bay Otters.
Junior utility Samantha Bentley set the tone for the Red Foxes, scoring less than a minute into the contest. Just 35 seconds later, DeBeer added to the lead after capitalizing on a penalty shot.
The Red Foxes took the momentum and ran, scoring three more goals before the end of the first period, highlighted by senior utility Makaelee Hansberger. She scored with just one second remaining in the first period, giving the Red Foxes a 6-2 lead heading into the second period.
The second frame saw the Otters gather some momentum on the offensive end. Despite the slight drop-off in defensive play, the Marist offense carried its first-period momentum over. Goals from Berecibar, Bentley, Naegle and Radaelli allowed Marist to maintain its four-point lead heading into halftime with a score of 10-6.
The third period saw the Red Foxes begin to separate, beginning with DeBeer’s third goal of the game. Szentpali added two goals of her own, including a late strike with just a second left in the period. Sophomore attacker Alyssa Valente converted a penalty shot late in the third quarter to extend the Red Foxes’ lead to 16-9 entering the final period of play.
The Red Foxes closed the match with a strong fourth period. Radaelli found the back of the net twice, and Sanchez continued her steady play, making key saves early in the quarter, allowing Marist to take home a 19-10 victory.
In their final matchup of the Convergence Invitational, the Red Foxes took on the California Baptist Lancers, who held a respectable 11-6 record on the year.
The Red Foxes came out of the gate strong, with senior attacker Lela McCarroll getting the scoring started. Radaelli followed up with two more goals to give Marist a 3-0 lead early.
The Lancers capitalized on a power play, scoring a goal of their own, but Marist responded quickly as Naegle found the back of the net with 25 seconds remaining in the period to give Marist a 4-1 lead heading into the second period.
Junior attacker/center Emily Scheerer dominated the second period, netting three goals, including two power-play goals, giving her a hat trick in just one period.
With Scheerer dominating on the offensive end, the Red Foxes were able to control the pace and limit the Lancers’ scoring opportunities, holding them to just one goal in each of the first two frames and entering halftime with a commanding 8-2 lead.
The Red Foxes continued to control the pace in the third period with strong defensive play led by Sanchez, who recorded four key saves, allowing Marist to maintain its sizable lead.
A power-play goal from sophomore attacker Viktoria Kiss with 41 seconds remaining in the period extended the Red Foxes’ lead to seven, ending the third period with a score of 10-3.
Marist finished off the tournament with yet another strong fourth-quarter performance. Szentpali scored a power-play goal followed by goals from freshmen Megan Tiedemann and Madilyn Ekstrom.
The Red Foxes coasted their way to a 13-5 victory, capping off a dominant weekend.
Following their strong showing at the Convergence Invitational, the Red Foxes return to Poughkeepsie for a rematch against Iona on March 11.
Edited by Mike Schiavone
Photo by Jaylen Rizzo
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