BROOKLYN HEIGHTS, N.Y. -- Despite sophomore captain Celine Lazzaro extending her program record scoring streak to 16 games, the Virginia Military Institute women's water polo team fell in a pair of Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference games Saturday at St. Francis College Brooklyn. VMI lost its first game to MAAC powerhouse Marist 17-5, followed by a 12-11 shootout with the host Terriers.
Lazzaro led both games, putting away seven goals on the day, including a five-marker effort in the second game. Mackenzie Perkins tallied two goals against Marist while Justina Dunne accounted for the fifth. Against the Terriers, Lazzaro's hat trick was matched by freshman Caitlyn Jackson, the reigning MAAC Rookie of the Week. Emily Cait Farsakian and Elise Reed each potted one goal.
Between the pipes, VMI got 12 saves in the first game from Molly Watkins, followed by another eight against the Terriers.
After playing Marist in a one-sided game earlier in the season, the Keydets (11-19, 1-9 MAAC) played the Red Foxes to a 4-3 first quarter. VMI got its goals from three different sources, Dunne, Lazzaro and Perkins, all scoring in the final three and half minutes to knot things 4-3 through the first eight minutes.
Marist broke things open in the second quarter, taking an 8-4 lead into the halftime break. Lazzaro was the lone VMI scorer in the second, while Perkins tallied VMI's final goal in the third quarter. Marist notched nine goals in the back half of the tilt.
The Keydets' second game of the afternoon was a back-and-forth affair as the Terriers worked to a 3-2 lead at the end of the first eight minute period. Lazzaro and Jackson posted VMI's goals in the first.
In the second, the Terriers scored six goals while the Keydets netted five, putting St. Francis up 9-7 at the halftime break. Jackson and Lazzaro each potted a pair of goals in the second quarter to lead VMI while Farsakian netted her goal.
After a combined 16 goals in the first two quarters, only two were scored in the third, once from VMI's Reed and once for St. Francis, which still held a two-goal advantage, 10-8, entering the fourth.
VMI mounted a comeback attempt, outscoring the Terriers 3-2 in the fourth behind another two Lazzaro goals and a third from Dunne. But the bid was not to be as St. Francis' two goals held up for the 12-11 victory.
After a day in Brooklyn, the Keydets cross over the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge for a pair of games at Wagner College on Sunday. The two-game set will be VMI's final MAAC games of the regular season. The Keydets take on the host at noon, followed by a second game against two-time defending conference champion Iona at 3 p.m.
