Marist women’s soccer won its most conference games in a season since 2018, going 7-4-1 to earn themselves a spot in the conference tournament.
The Red Foxes finished sixth in the conference, but will host No. 3 seed Fairfield on Sunday; the Stags can not host tournament games this season because they are departing the Metro Conference for the CAA Conference. This is the second straight season Marist has made the postseason; last season ended after a first-round loss to Canisius.
Now, fourth-year head coach Nicole Pacapelli Ciano will look for her first tournament win after taking over the program in 2022. This season, however, she and her team faced unique challenges.
Over the summer, Pacapelli Ciano had her first child. This sidelined her from training camp and seven games at the start of the season, the first five of which were non-conference games—Marist went 0-5.
“Mentally, it’s definitely not been easy, because I want to be around the girls all the time and I want to be able to be at training and control what’s going on. I have a lot of trust in my staff and trust in the girls at this point to do what they need to do, whether I’m around or not,” said Pacapelli Ciano. “I couldn’t have asked for a better group to do such a great job.”
The team was coached by assistant Mackenzie Hanna in Pacapelli Ciano’s absence. They won both conference games she missed against Canisius and Mount St. Mary’s.
“It was definitely a change once our head coach came back because we started off the season with our assistant coach, and especially for the newer players, they had never even been coached by the head coach,” junior forward Ariana Mullin said.
Mullin led the team in points (10) and assists (4), while being tied for the team lead in goals (3) with graduate student forward Marissa Foster and junior forward Margaret Johnson. The offense was evenly distributed for the Red Foxes, with 13 players recording at least one point.
In net, junior goalkeeper Samantha Graf put together a strong campaign in her first season as the starter. She started every game for the Red Foxes and was fourth in the Metro with six shutouts.
Beginning against Manhattan on Sept. 23, the Red Foxes started to become more aggressive on offense. Prior to that point in conference play, Marist averaged 14.67 shots per game. In the final eight games, they averaged 17.82 shots per game, and finished the year third in the conference in total shots with 203.
Despite the change, Marist did not make any drastic changes in strategy during that stretch.
“I don’t think we necessarily changed anything, but I feel like in our practices, something we really focused on was being able to get those opportunities and be able to execute the plan in the final third,” said Mullin. “I feel like part of it is also growing in chemistry with the players around you. Once we started learning how to play off of each other better, then we were able to connect in the final third, and that led to more shots.”
The Red Foxes ended the season with one of their worst games of the season, falling to Siena 3-0. Marist attempted only eight shots the entire game, slipping to the No. 6 seed in the process.
“I don’t think the 10-day break helped us a little bit. I felt like we were just a step slow on the ball and off the ball,” said Pacapelli Ciano. “I think we got away from what we talk about in regard to our process a little bit and started focusing on the result a little too much, and we honestly played probably our worst game all year, and the girls know it, and we’re well aware.”
When Marist hosted Fairfield on Oct. 7, they lost 5-1. Despite the final score, Marist outshot the Stags 21-20. The game was tied 1-1 in the first half, but surrendering goals on penalty kicks and free kicks allowed Fairfield to take control of the match.
“I definitely think this time around can be different. I feel like the game we played against Fairfield, the scoreline really didn’t show the game. I feel like we had our opportunities and [our] attacks were pretty equal; the only difference was that Fairfield finished their chances, and that was something that we struggled with that game,” said Mullin.
The Red Foxes will look to upset Fairfield for their first win in the conference tournament since 2016. Hosting their first postseason game since 2019, Pacapelli Ciano and her team are ready for the Stags.
“I just think Fairfield this year is definitely a beatable team, and our girls probably couldn’t have been more excited to play anyone else. So they’re really up for it,” Pacapelli Ciano said.
Kickoff is set for noon on Sunday.
Edited by Hayden Shapiro and Mike Schiavone
Graphic by Jaylen Rizzo
Photo by Michael O’Neil
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