Marist defeats Albany, Falls to Hobart

On Saturday, October 16th, the Marist Lacrosse team traveled to Hobart College in Geneva, NY, to participate in a series of scrimmages. Having won both of their games the previous weekend the Red Foxes entered Saturday feeling very good about their play so far this fall, and it would continue against Albany in the first contest of the day.

Freshman Colin Joka was impressive against Albany

The scrimmage against Albany featured a level of intensity much higher than fans are used to seeing in a fall contest, due in large part to the fact that Marist defeated Albany last season when the Great Danes were ranked in the Top 25. The Red Foxes once again came out victorious, winning 12-8, containing a high-power Albany offense featuring the top recruit in the nation. Juniors Matt Dugan and Vin Chiodo controlled seemingly every faceoff for Marist, allowing the offense to get into a rhythm and control time of possession for the entire game. Freshman Colin Joka was a standout for the Marist offense, capitalizing on scoring opportunities and finding the back of the net on numerous occasions. With the offense putting points on the board, it was up to to the Marist defense to slow down the always dangerous Albany attack. As has been the case all fall, the experience defense imposed their will on the opposing attack, beating Albany to ground balls and keeping them out of rhythm with their physical play. With their physical play on both sides of the ball and good execution on offense Marist was able to earn themselves a victory against a formidable opponent.

In the second of back to back scrimmages Marist faced off against the host Hobart College. Visibly exhausted from their first game against Albany, the Red Foxes got off to a slow start and found themselves down 5-0, and with the weather getting worse by the minute, Coach Keegan Wilkinson didn't want to take any chances and pulled the majority of the starters. Marist would go on to lose the game, but it was not all negative as a lot of the younger players had a chance to showcase their abilities, including Mike Begley who put Marist on the board with his first goal. Senior captain Kevin DeFranco felt there was a lot that could be learned from the loss, saying "A loss like shows us that we still have a way to go before we get to where we want to be. We were very sloppy and just need to clean it up all around and become a more cohesive unit."

Overall it was a postive day for Marist Lacrosse as they proved that they can play with anyone in the country when they play their game on both sides of the ball, but there was a lot to build on from both games. The Red Foxes are back in action this Saturday at 2 PM, facing perhaps their most dangerous opponent of the fall, the alumni.