It was a chilly night in Poughkeepsie under the lights at Tenney Stadium, where Marist took down the Iona Gaels 17-6; the Red Foxes picked up their fifth straight win and moved to 3-0 in MAAC play.
It was no ordinary night as Marist celebrated senior night, honoring its four seniors. Fittingly, senior midfielder Peter Murray got the party started, ripping one home to give Marist an early 1-0 lead.
The New Jersey native had his whole family in attendance for the special night.
“I feel so blessed to have my family here. There were a lot of them. It’s their first time watching me in person. I feel so blessed to have a support crew like that,” Murray said.
The first quarter was all Marist, as it shut out the Gaels for the first 15 minutes. At the end of one, the Red Foxes led 3-0 as sophomore attackman Brady Dolan scored two straight goals to extend the lead. Dolan finished the game with four goals, continuing to establish himself at the starting lefty attack spot.
“I’m getting more comfortable in my role, and it really helps when you have a bunch of guys around you who can dodge and create offense. It opens up opportunities for me,” Dolan said.
As the second quarter began, the Marist offense didn’t skip a beat. Last game’s overtime hero, Steven Cain, added another goal to extend the lead to 4-0.
After Iona found the back of the net for the first time, Marist responded quickly with goals from junior attackman Collin Patrick and freshman long pole Matthew Chadwick, who scored the first two goals of his collegiate career.
As time wound down in the half, Iona found some momentum through sophomore midfielder Kyle Hardie, who scored two straight goals to cut the lead to 6-3.
Marist took control in the third quarter, outscoring Iona 6-1. Cain started the scoring with his second goal of the game, followed by two more from Patrick and another from Murray.
“I think the key was just moving the ball and playing fast-tempo offense,” Dolan said. “It felt like things were really clicking for us today, and it helps when the defense plays the way they do because it allows us to play loose and comfortable and put up that many points.”
A big factor in Marist’s dominance was sophomore faceoff specialist Josh Smith, who controlled possession by going 15-for-22 at the faceoff circle.
With the score at 13-4 and the game out of reach, Marist emptied the bench in the final quarter and cruised to a 17-6 win.
“We really started to get back to playing Marist lacrosse, which is leaving it all out on the field,” head coach Dave Scarcello said. “I couldn’t be happier with the attitude and effort the guys have been putting forth, both on the practice field and on game day.”
Marist improved to 5-2 on the season with the win, while Iona fell to 1-10.
Next up, Marist will face rival Siena on Wednesday at 7 p.m. at Tenney Stadium. Siena knocked Marist out of the MAAC semifinals last season, and the Red Foxes will be looking for revenge.
“There’s no doubt we treat this one a little differently with the rivalry that we have,” Scarcello said. “We’re going to prepare the same way we have all year and know that we’ve got a really tough test ahead of us.”
Edited by Ben Leeds
Photo by Marist Athletics
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