Marist men’s lacrosse will begin its quest for another MAAC championship on Thursday at 4 p.m. Marist comes in as the No. 2 seed, and they will face No. 3 Sacred Heart at Siena University for a chance to earn a trip to the MAAC Finals on Saturday.
Marist finished the season with a share of the MAAC regular-season title alongside Siena, which earned the No. 1 seed. After losing its first two games of the season, Marist has rattled off nine wins in its last 11 games.
The Red Foxes have been playing some of their best lacrosse as of late, including a 14-13 win over Sacred Heart two games ago. In a back-and-forth battle, Marist prevailed in large part due to dominating the turnover margin and groundball battle.
Sacred Heart statistically had the best offense in the MAAC this season, leading the conference in goals, assists, points and shots per game. If Marist wants to beat the Pioneers for the second time in three games, the defense must step up, led by junior MAAC Long Stick Midfielder of the Year Michael Cassano and graduate student All-MAAC First Team selection Aiden McCaffery.
In the last matchup, freshman goalie Richie Metzger stood tall, stopping 11 shots. The unanimous MAAC All-Rookie Team selection will play in the biggest game of his young career and is set to be a key factor.
One of the biggest factors entering Thursday is the return of sophomore faceoff specialist Josh Smith. Smith has missed the last two games with a hamstring injury, and Thursday will be his first game back. He posted a .550 faceoff percentage and helped Marist rank sixth in the MAAC during the regular season. In the previous matchup, where Smith was out, Marist went just 7-for-30 at the faceoff dot.
On the offensive side, look for Marist to continue its strong play, led by star juniors and All-MAAC First Team selections attack Collin Patrick and midfielder Sean Mullan. The Red Foxes’ offense has been a machine as of late, scoring 13-plus goals in each of their last three games. In the last matchup against Sacred Heart, Mullan led the way with four goals, while Patrick added three.
Marist’s last MAAC championship came in 2023, and after several deep runs in recent seasons, the Red Foxes are looking to get over the hump and bring some hardware home to Poughkeepsie.
Edited by Nate Shoemaker and Max Rosen
Photo by Jaylen Rizzo
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