LOUDONVILLE, N.Y. – Hoping to start conference season off on the right foot, the Virginia Military Institute women's water polo team fell in both its matches Saturday as Marist College and No. 14 Wagner College earned wins Saturday afternoon in Loudonville, New York.
Marist picked up the victory by a 14-8 score while nationally ranked Wagner picked up its second win over the Keydets this season by a final tally of 23-7.
Against Marist (9-11), the Keydets got down early as the Red Foxes scored five consecutive goals in the opening quarter before VMI's Mackenzie Perkins earned an unassisted goal during a power play to cut Marist's lead to 6-1 going into the second.
VMI nearly matched the Red Foxes goal for goal in the second period to go into the break with a 10-4 disadvantage. After a goal from Marist's Anna Lena Hathaway, VMI's Shelby Barkley scored two straight goals midway through the frame to offer some momentum for the Keydets. Marist's Amanda Amorosa, who would score four goals in the game, put another one in the net before VMI's Celine Lazzaro scored one.
The Keydets and Red Foxes each netted three goals in the second half for Marist to pick up the final victory tally of 14-8. VMI's Bailey Huddleston scored her first of three goals in the half midway through the third quarter as she picked up an unassisted score with five minutes left in the period. Huddleston would score again with 4:30 and 2:36 remaining in the game for the match's final score.
Keydet Cecilya Lundy also scored a goal at the 5:57 mark of the final quarter to keep battling. Marist keeper Skyler Henry earned the win with 14 saves for the day while VMI's Cait Farsakian logged five saves in her loss.
vs. No. 14 Wagner College
Despite trailing by just a 5-3 score after one period against the No. 14 Seahawks, the Keydets struggled in the second and fourth periods as Wagner outscored VMI 12-1 in the two frames en route to a 23-7 victory.
After goals from Keydets Celine Lazzaro, Cecilya Lundy and Mackenzie Perkins in the first quarter, Wagner scored five unanswered goals in the second quarter before VMI's Sierra Payne contested with a goal. The Seahawks would add two more goals in the final 1:30 of the period to go into the break with a commanding 12-4 lead.
Wagner scored two more goals early in the third frame before Keydet Natalie Rivas scored an unassisted goal to cut the lead to 14-5. Lazzaro and Lundy scored their second goals of the game for the Keydets in the third quarter, but those would be the final scores for VMI as Wagner added four more goals in the third and five in the fourth for the 23-7 final tally.
The squads were evenly matched in powerplay opportunities as the Seahawks finished 6-8 while the Keydets went 5-8. Both teams also ended up with eight exclusions apiece in the match.
VMI continues conference play in New York as it faces Iona and Villanova Sunday at 9 a.m. and 2:30 p.m., respectively, in Poughkeepsie, New York.
