Springtime seems to be coming late in Poughkeepsie, but the Foxes came out of the gate hot en route to a 14-8 victory against conference rival Iona. Marist bounced back after their largest loss since 2010 to Mount Saint Mary’s on Wednesday.
The Red Foxes quadrupled Wednesday’s total in the first five minutes, scoring on six of ten attempts in the first quarter. Marist dominated the faceoff, winning seven of nine. Freshman midfielder Emma Kraevitz took the initial draw and passed to junior attack Kate Gaven, who opened the scoring with an unassisted goal 39 seconds into the matchup.
The Red Fox then exploded for four goals junior attack Anne Shine, sophomore midfielder Amelia Pirozzi and senior attack Jesse Manger joined Gaven to give Marist a 5-0 lead.
Graduate student midfielder Alyssa Castellano managed to momentarily pause the torrent, converting Iona’s first free position goal. Castellano’s second goal at 5:23 cut the score to 5-2, the closest the Gaels would get. Shine responded with her second goal extending the lead to 6-2 .
Marist continued to command the possession battle, controlling 18 of 24 draws and winning the turnover battle 12-19. 13 of Iona’s turnovers were forced by the Foxes, while the Gaels only managed to jostle the ball out twice.
The possession dominance allowed for 23 total shots by Marist in the first half, more than Iona got all game. At the break, the Red Foxes held a 10-3 lead with six players on the score board. That total increased to nine by the end of the game, including a hat trick by Manger, and two goals from junior attack Kathryn Staker. Senior midfielder Caitlin McNaboe played a big role, controlling five draws, and netting her sixth goal on the year.
By the time the fourth quarter arrived, Marist held a 13-5 advantage. After leading in each of the first three quarters, the Red Foxes slowed the pace down in the fourth, but never let up the pressure. They tacked on one last score, while Iona could only cut the deficit down to six. Marist ended up winning 14-8 marking their highest scoring total of the season.
“I was really excited to see this version of ourselves. This was the version that we came into the season really excited about,” said head coach Keith Detelj. “It was a unit type thing. It was our defense unit doing their job, our offensive unit using their abilities in the right way and all our strengths.”
The victory improves Marist to 2-1 in MAAC play. The Red Foxes will now look to take advantage of a struggling Merrimack team as they head to Andover on Wednesday, April 1st. Faceoff is set for 2pm.
Edited by Nate Shoemaker
Graphic and Photo by Quinn DiFiore
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