Marist women’s soccer opened Metro Conference play with its first win of the season Saturday afternoon during a matinee at Tenney Stadium, defeating Merrimack 1-0.
Despite an 0-5 start to the season, Marist was hungry to play for fourth-year head coach Nicole Pacapelli Ciano in her first game of the season. She missed the earlier games on maternity leave after welcoming her daughter.
The Red Foxes were on the attack throughout most of the game, outshooting Merrimack 14-8. This culminated in a Merrimack foul in the penalty box during the 27th minute on Marist’s sophomore forward Ella Bryan, who took advantage and found the back of the net on the team’s first penalty shot of the season and her second goal.
“We work on it a lot in practice and I just wanted to do it for me team, cause they did all the work,” said Bryan.
With the strength of Marist’s defense and ability to keep possession, Bryan’s goal was all the offense the team needed.
The Red Foxes came into today winless, as the team went 0-5 in its out-of-conference slate, finishing with a 3-1 loss at Navy last Sunday. They were outscored in those games 10-2. The team hopes to replicate what it did to start last season, when it also lost its first five non-conference games before finishing sixth in the renamed Metro Conference, qualifying for the conference tournament.
Merrimack came into the game 2-3-1 in non-conference play. The Warriors are projected to improve on their 11th-place conference finish last season, as the coaches’ poll pegged them for eighth. The Warriors are led by head coach Gabe Mejail, who holds the NCAA record for most seasons as a women’s soccer head coach with 47. This is his 43rd year at Merrimack.
From the outset of the game, Marist threatened to score, notching three shots on goal in the first ten minutes. By halftime, Merrimack junior keeper Kaitlyn Brewi had already made seven saves.
Despite this early effort, Merrimack still had the best scoring chance of the game at this stage, as senior forward Sophia Keogh got a clear look at the goal from 15 yards out. However, she just missed the net, hitting the top of the crossbar.
Marist’ attack began to gain more momentum in the 22nd minute as junior attacker Ariana Mullin subbed into the game. She finished tied with Bryan for the most shots, with three in 43 minutes.
“[Mullin] is just so fun to watch, she’s pure talent,” said Pacapelli Ciano.
This helped Marist significantly outshoot the Warriors 10-2 in the first half. Seven of those shots were on goal, the most for Marist in any game this season.
“We really did not make too many changes, we didn’t change our lineup, we’ve just been driving out our opportunities and being consistent and knowing that what we did during non-conference, even though we might not have gotten a result, we had good opportunities,” said Pacapelli Ciano.
In goal, junior keeper Samantha Graf led the way. She recorded the first clean sheet of the season for the team, though she only had to make one save. Junior defender Sophia DeJoia also helped the defense tremendously in her first start of the season at center back. Pacapelli Ciano credited her for helping shut out the Warriors.
“We had a kid play, DeJoia, she played center back for us for the first time,” Pacapelli Ciano said. “We had some injuries in the last game and she’s a lockdown defender.”
The biggest test for the Marist defense came in the 68th minute, as a shot from inside the box for Keogh hit off the right post. This led to two Merrimack corner kicks, but not to any shots on goal. Merrimack outshot Marist 6-4 in the second half, though with only one on target, Marist hung on for its first win.
Marist will continue Metro play next Saturday on the road at Sacred Heart. Kickoff is scheduled for 12 p.m.
Edited by Max Rosen
Graphic by Jaylen Rizzo
Photo by Cassidy Connors
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