Marist held a close 6-5 lead at halftime on a cold afternoon at Tenney Stadium, but momentum quickly shifted in the second half as the Siena Saints secured an 11-8 road win over the Red Foxes.
Junior midfielder Madsion Leale delivered a dominant first half, recording her second career hat trick for Marist, while junior goalie Megan Morris anchored the defense with seven saves. However, the Red Foxes struggled in the second half, only scoring twice after the break.
Siena had six different scorers, with both junior attack Olivia Nicholson and redshirt freshman attacker Avery Connolly earning themselves a pair of hat tricks.
“Leale played great inside and gave us another look. We still had opportunities at the end, we just didn’t bury them,” said Marist head coach Keith Detelj.
In the opening minutes, the Saints had three point-blank opportunities, but Morris kept the back of the net clean with two early saves. On the fourth attempt, Nicholson made a quick cut to notch her 25th goal of the season.
The Saints mounted a 3-0 lead with back-to-back goals from junior attack Jenna Pollicino. The Red Foxes could not gain possession of the ball early on as the Saints led with four straight draw controls.
After Morris’ third save of the afternoon, senior attack Jesse Manger planted herself right in front of the goal. Junior attack Kathryn Staker found Manger the ball on the inside to cut the lead down to 3-1.
Morris kept the Saints at bay, blocking three straight shots in one possession. The Marist offense responded, tying the contest at three.
Siena responded with two unanswered goals, putting the Saints up two as redshirt sophomore attack Koehler Nieman slipped a ground ball past Morris, followed by a goal off the stick of fellow attacker Connolly.
After the Saints’ run, Marist went on to score three straight goals of its own as Leale earned her first hat trick of the season.
The Red Foxes got its first lead of the half off a scooped-up ground ball that rolled to the back of the cage from senior midfielder Caitlin McNaboe.
Out of halftime, Siena came out with an early edge. Freshman midfielder Hailey Deptula ripped in two goals, and Connolly navigated through a crowded Marist defense to give the Saints an 8-6 advantage.
The Saints did not let up as sophomore midfielder Eva Pflomm and Connolly put a close to the third quarter with the scoreboard reading 10-7.
Marist’s defense continued to break down, allowing Siena to notch their third straight goal as Nicholson completed her hat trick.
Manger tried to guide the Red Foxes back into the contest, with her third goal of the day, but the Saints forced Marist’s 16th turnover of the afternoon to seal the victory as time expired.
The Red Foxes will look to get back in the win column when they host Niagara on senior day Saturday, April 12th at noon.
Edited by Cara Lacey
Graphic by Cara Lacey
Photo from Marist Athletics
For more coverage of Marist athletics, follow @cfmarist on Instagram, X, TikTok and Bluesky, and sign up to receive daily alerts here.