Marist women’s soccer conceded its most goals in a single game this season Wednesday night, losing 5-1 to Fairfield (8-3-1, 6-0 Metro). The Stags ended Marist’s (4-7-1, 4-2-1 Metro) three-game unbeaten run and stayed perfect in conference play.
Fairfield has been the best team in the Metro over the past three seasons; they have not lost a regular season conference game since 2024. Tonight was always going to be an uphill battle for the Red Foxes, who opened the scoring but gave up the lead in the first half after a foul was awarded because of a Marist handball. The Red Foxes compounded their mistakes, conceding a foul that led to a goal just minutes later.
“Yeah, I mean, there are three set pieces, back to back, and I think it’s all just kind of about little details when it comes to set pieces and a quick loss of your mark or not moving our feet, and we create a foul or silly handball,” said Marist head coach Nicole Pacapelli Ciano.
In their last two games, both wins, Marist has been able to win by staying on attack on offense and limiting errors on defense, something they could not do tonight. They still stayed aggressive, though, with 19 shots and eight on target.
The Stags have been the best team in the Metro so far by a wide margin. They are the only undefeated team, and even their nonconference schedule is stronger than it looks, as they went 2-3-1 with a loss to 8th-ranked North Carolina.
Junior forward Arianna Mullin opened the scoring for Marist off a pass from sophomore forward Ella Bryan in the seventh minute, her first goal of the year. Mullin has been key to the Red Foxes offense this season, leading the team with three assists.
“I’m really glad she finally got her goal; I know she’s been itching. The kid’s super talented, she’s super special on ball and she’s created alot of opportunities of us,” said Pacapelli Ciano.
The lead was quickly erased, as seven minutes later the Stags tied it on a header from sophomore midfielder Brooke Kennedy, her third goal of the year.
Before this point, junior goalkeeper Samantha Graf and the Marist defense had shut out opponents in three straight games, good enough for a Metro Defensive Player of the Week Award.
In the next 10 minutes, two of the Red Foxes’ best players made two back-breaking mistakes that they couldn’t overcome. In the 18th, junior defender Riley Benito deflected a pass in her own net with her right hand. Not caught in live action, a replay gave Fairfield’s preseason All-Metro junior forward Ashley McMahon a penalty, which she kicked past a diving Graf to go up 2-1.
Three minutes later, as Fairfield had the ball in the Marist half of the field again, Byran slid too hard into the legs of a Stag 25 yards from the Red Foxes net. McMahon got another chance in the form of the free kick and scored again to extend the lead.
Nobody plays an aggressive game in the Metro quite like Fairfield, as they average 21.23 shots per game, 9.64 of them on target. The latter number is nearly three shots ahead of second-place Manhattan. They stayed on pace tonight, shooting 19 times, with nine of them on goal. Pacapelli Ciano is still winless against the Stags since her first season in 2023, with a 0-2-2 record.
This match is the last time the two programs will play in a Metro regular season game, as the Stags are set to join the Colonial Athletic Conference in July of next year.
In its past three games, Marist has attempted to imitate this style of play, averaging 21.67 shots per game, a massive jump from their season average of 13.27. This attack has kept their opponents off the board and led to four goals in the last two games. They stayed close to these averages tonight, but the defense could not hold up en route to the 5-1 loss.
A Breast Cancer Awareness pink-out lit up the Tenney Crowd tonight, as Marist wore pink socks in addition to their white home uniforms.
The Red Foxes will look to bounce back this weekend in Buffalo, on Saturday at 12 p.m., against Canisius.
Edited by Ryan Eichem
Photo from Michael O’Neil
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