After a strong start to the game, Marist women’s lacrosse blew an early lead and lost to Canisius 16-11 in a gloomy morning game.
Earlier this week, Marist won at Merrimack 14-9. It was their second straight win after their worst game of the season, losing to Mount St. Mary’s 18-1. They held a 3-2 record in conference, with a 4-9 overall record as they traveled to Upstate New York for the 10 a.m. game with the Golden Griffins.
For Canisius, this win puts them ahead of Marist in the MAAC standings, as they move to 3-2 in conference with an 8-4 record overall.
Both teams were projected to finish towards the bottom of the MAAC, but have so far looked better than that. The Red Foxes were picked to finish eighth, while Canisius was picked for ninth. Coming into today, they sat at fifth and sixth, respectively.
The teams contrasted well on the field, as the Red Foxes donned their traditional, all-white uniforms, with red letters and numbers. Canisius wore an alternate all-pink uniform for the team’s Stick it to Cancer Game.
The game started with a huge scare. On the first Canisius possession, star freshman attacker Ella Forcucci, who is second in the MAAC with 4.75 points per game, collided with a Marist defender. She fell to the ground, grimacing and holding her leg, and had to be carried off the field.
Marist shot the ball well in the first quarter. They were a near-perfect six-for-seven on shots on goal, and carried a 6-1 lead by the end of the quarter. Junior attacker Annie Shine scored two goals from in front of the net to contribute.
Forcucci returned just before the end of the quarter. She took a free position shot with less than two minutes to go, but Marist junior goalie Megan Morris saved it to preserve the Marist lead.
After the strong start from the Red Foxes, Canisius answered in the second quarter, and Marist never quite recovered. The Golden Griffins made a switch at goalkeeper, bringing in junior Olivia Licardi for graduate student Isabel Gautreaux, who came into today with a 4-1 record in net.
The second quarter was a strong one for preseason all-MAAC midfielder Maddie Fitzgerald, who scored two goals for Canisius. The Golden Griffins cut the lead to 8-6.
It would be a slow day for Marist’s leading scorer, sophomore attacker Amelia Pirozzi, who has 29 goals on the year, and scored five in the last game. She scored one goal today.
Marist could not sustain any sort of offense in the second half. They went scoreless in the third quarter, as they saw Canisius take a lead. Fitzgerald scored the seventh goal for the Golden Griffins, and Forcucci tied the game. The two-star offense was too much for Marist to handle in the second half. They went up 10-8 by the end of the third.
Red Fox senior attacker, Jessie Manger, scored her second goal of the day in the fourth, and Shine scored a free position shot to net herself a hat-trick, but it was too little too late.
Fitzgerald finished the game with five goals, and Forcucci had a hat trick for Canisius. Licardi also played well in net, getting seven saves on ten shots.
Marist now returns home to face Siena on Wednesday afternoon.
Edited by Ben Leeds
Graphic and photo by Quinn DiFiore
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