It was a packed crowd at Tenney Stadium for the highly anticipated matchup between MAAC No. 2 seed Marist and MAAC No. 3 seed Sacred Heart. In a back-and-forth affair, Marist came away with a 14-13 win.
With sophomore faceoff specialist Josh Smith out due to a hamstring injury, Marist was at a huge disadvantage from the jump given his exceptional season. Head coach Dave Scarcello experimented all game at the faceoff dot, double-poling both wings and even using a pole for the draw, but none of it worked. Marist went just 7-for-30 on faceoffs, but it did not matter.
“We’re hoping to have Josh back soon. I don’t have a crystal ball to give you an exact answer, but he’s doing everything he can to prepare and get back to playing with this team. Even though the stat sheet might not have shown we were coming up with a lot of faceoffs, we made them work for every single possession today. That was the goal going into the game,” said Scarcello.
Early on, Sacred Heart dictated the pace of play. The Pioneers jumped out to a quick 3-1 lead, including a controversial goal. Sophomore midfielder Dom Basti scored for Sacred Heart, but seconds earlier, there was a wide shot where Marist appeared to win the chase. After no call, Scarcello went irate on the sideline, drawing a flag, but the Basti goal wiped out the penalty.
Marist responded, though, with sophomore attackman Brady Dolan rifling one top shelf to make it a one-goal game. Minutes later, Basti got his second of the game, giving the Pioneers a 4-2 lead at the end of the first quarter.
Freshman goalie Richie Metzger found his stride once the second quarter began, making numerous saves that led to breaks the other way. Metzger finished with 11 saves.
“Rich has just settled into these big games, and that’s the biggest thing. As a freshman, there’s a lot of pressure on him, but I think it comes down to the way he prepares on a daily basis and getting ourselves amped up at practice to treat it like a game,” said Scarcello.
Marist finally found its run, scoring three straight goals and taking its first lead at 6-5. Junior attackman Steven Cain scored the third goal of that stretch via a beautiful swim move on his defender, beating the Sacred Heart defense.
On the other end of the field, Marist’s defense handled business. Despite losing the majority of the faceoffs and having the ball in its zone after nearly every goal, it stood strong. The Red Foxes slid physically, taking Sacred Heart out of its rhythm and causing numerous turnovers. Marist finished the game with 19 caused turnovers.
To close the half, sophomore midfielder Dylan Rocchio put the finishing touches on a great quarter by scoring for Marist. They headed into the locker room with a 7-6 lead.
With the third quarter underway, junior attackman Colin Patrick ripped one home minutes in, extending Marist’s lead to 8-6. It was Marist’s first multigoal lead of the game, but it did not last long. Sacred Heart scored two goals immediately, tying the game at eight.
With slightly more than six minutes remaining in the third, junior midfielder Sean Mullan made one of the more incredible plays you will see on a lacrosse field, running through five Sacred Heart defenders, drawing a flag and ultimately setting up Patrick for his second straight goal to once again give the Red Foxes the lead.
“That moment, [I was] just trying to run away from the pressure. Once I got up off the ground, I saw the two and had to make a play,” Mullan said.
Minutes later, it was Mullan again firing a rocket home to extend the lead back to two. Mullan finished with a game-high four goals.
After a late-quarter goal by Sacred Heart, the fourth quarter began with Marist leading 10-9. The Pioneers found the equalizer through freshman attackman Jake Carney, who finished tied for the team lead with three goals.
With the clock winding down in the fourth quarter, Marist scored four of the next five goals, including a beautiful shot from senior midfielder Drew Anderson as the shot clock expired.
Patrick scored with a little more than three minutes to go, giving him a hat trick and Marist a 14-11 lead.
“Just trusting ourselves, hammering the shots, shooting with confidence, violent hands all week, violent shots, pregame, in practice, stuff like that. So just trusting our shots,” said Patrick after the offensive burst.
Sacred Heart scored two more goals late, but it was not enough. Marist ran out the clock and took care of business with a 14-13 win.
Sacred Heart fell to 10-3 on the season and 4-3 in MAAC play. Marist improved to 8-4 overall and 6-1 in conference play, clinching the No. 2 seed in the tournament.
“Same thing every day, right? We have come this far. Bring our heads down every practice, getting one percent better each day. We have to continue that, especially now,” said Patrick as the playoffs approach.
Marist will conclude its regular season on Wednesday against Canisius at 3 p.m.
Edited by Mike Duda
Photo by Jaylen Rizzo
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