Arms raised above her head in triumph, Bianca McGrayne promptly slammed her stick to the ground.
The sophomore attack from Ontario had just scored her first career goal against a MAAC opponent, which doubled as an overtime game-winner to preserve Niagara’s unbeaten status in conference, with a 10-9 victory.
The Purple Eagles mobbed the unlikely hero, while the Red Foxes huddled and a few shed tears.
A hectic two minutes set up the sudden-death overtime; junior attack Olivia Ng had her go-ahead shot stuffed by Marist junior goaltender Megan Morris; however, in swooped sophomore attack Michaela Delles, who batted the ball past Morris as she fell to the turf. The miraculous goal put the Purple Eagles up a goal, with just a few ticks over two minutes to play.
Essentially, all Niagara needed to do to remain unbeaten was control the draw.
It didn’t. Freshman midfielder Emma Kravetz picked up the loose ball and got body checked out of bounds by junior midfielder Julia Peters, an untoward penalty that gave Marist a man-up advantage.
Junior attack Kate Gaven snuck past the Niagara defense to the net and senior draw/attack Jesse Manger hit her in stride with a picturesque pass from behind the net. Gaven caught and shot instantly, netting a game-tying goal which resembled that of a one-timer in hockey.
Marist even had a chance to win it in regulation, after Kravetz knocked the ball out of Delles’ stick on the ensuing draw. Marist picked it up, then called a timeout – junior midfield/attack Annie Shine sent a shot just wide as the final seconds waned.
It proved to be their final chance to win the key game, as the Red Foxes never possessed the ball in overtime.
Marist entered Saturday afternoon’s game in the heat of a congested postseason push; four teams began the day’s slate of games at 3-3 in conference play, each vying for the last two spots in the MAAC Tournament with two games left to play.
The Red Foxes had their work cut out for them after a crucial midweek loss to Siena, another team in the midst of the convoluted playoff race. To wrap up its season, Marist had the two toughest teams in the MAAC left on its schedule: Niagara and Fairfield.
The loss to Niagara digs Marist in an even deeper hole; they’ll now need to take down the Stags, who are also unbeaten in conference play, at Fairfield to give themselves a chance to make the postseason.
Marist struck first, but junior midfielder Abberly Dela Rosa quickly evened the score with a free-position goal, then Delles scored back-to-back goals within a minute of each other. They marked Delles 23rd and 24th goals of the season during conference play, the second-highest total in the conference.
Delles had her fingerprints all over Niagara’s four-goal barrage to end the first quarter; she threaded the needle on a perfect feed through traffic to senior midfielder Maddy Gill. Gill caught the pass amidst the hullabaloo of five surrounding Marist defenders, and deposited her first goal of the day past Morris.
Delles added another goal to open the second quarter to stretch the Niagara lead to four, as the Purple Eagles’ offense seemingly found its groove – they average 13.17 goals a game, opposed to Marist’s 9.67.
When things looked bleak, Marist’s senior captain kick-started a comeback on her own senior day.
Midfielder Caitlin McNaboe scored her 39th career goal in her 64th game as a Red Fox; the senior from Garden City, New York, has played in every game in her four years, some 100 miles north in Poughkeepsie. McNaboe has corralled 220 draw controls in her career, which ranks third in program history.
“She’s been a cornerstone,” said head coach Keith Detelj. “We lean on her to do a lot of things… You see her doing all the things that don’t get stated. Finding a little glory is always great to see for her.”
Sophomore phenom attack Amelia Pirozzi netted a free position goal, then Manger fired a perfect pass from behind the net to a cutting Madison Leale. The junior midfielder caught, shot and scored all in one motion to bring Marist back within a goal – the score stayed at 5-4 as the horn sounded, ending the first half.
The Red Foxes started the second half the same way they started the first, with a goal on their first possession. This time it was Gaven, who knotted the score at five, then put Marist out front 59 seconds later with another goal.
“Gaven’s a great driver, so once we opened up lanes for her, she was able to be really effective,” said Detelj.
Gaven added a third goal later on in the quarter, but two Niagara goals evened the score at seven heading into the fourth quarter.
Ng gave Niagara an early lead with her second goal of the day to start the fourth quarter, but Morris kept the Red Foxes in it by making two dazzling saves.
Marist capitalized on the momentum; Piriozzi knifed her way towards the net, leaped and flung a shot past sophomore goaltender Haley Terry, tying the score with 5:23 left.
Delles and Gaven’s heroics forced a fifth frame, where McGrayne found herself alone in front of the net, with the game on her stick. She converted, dropping Marist’s MAAC record to 3-4.
Quinnipiac lost its Saturday matchup to Fairfield, moving its record to 3-4 as well, while Sacred Heart took down Rider to improve to 4-3; Siena, the other previous 3-3 team, plays Iona later this afternoon.
Regardless of what happens in Loudonville, Marist’s final game against Fairfield will be a must-win scenario.
“This has been our best performance by far,” said Detelj. “We are super, super proud of them. We definitely have some momentum from this game to bring to the next, even though it’s not the result we wanted.”
Edited by Cara Lacey
Graphic by Cara Lacey
Photo by Cassidy Connors
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