Marist Shines at the Nick Colleluori Classic

Zach Badalucco (8) and the rest of the Marist Defense had a strong showing Saturday

This past Saturday, October 8th, Marist Lacrosse traveled to Philadelphia to take part in the fifth annual Nick Colleluori Classic held at Ridley High School in honor of Nick Colleluori a former Hofstra player who died of cancer in 2006. The tournament featured nine Division I team, each of whom played two games on Saturday. Marist faced Patriot League power Colgate and former MAAC foe Mount St. Mary's, now of the Northeastern Conference.

In their first matchup of the day Marist would face Colgate who had just taken down perennial power Cornell in a tight game. Marist set the tone early with their scrappy defense, beating Colgate to seemingly every loose ball even though they were undersized. The Colgate offense never got into a rhythm thanks to the stifling Marist defense that held the high powered offense to only three goals on the day. The hustle of the Marist defense, and offense alike, proved to be too much to handle for Colgate and eventually led to a 7-3 victory for the Red Foxes.

The second matchup for Marist put them up against their former conference rival Mount St. Mary's, who as of this year has been relocated to a different conference. Still reeling from their victory against Colgate, Marist once again set the tone with their hustle and scrappy play. The experienced defense, led by senior Zach Badalucco and junior Ethan Fox, once again made it very difficult for the Mount St. Mary's offense to find their rhythm. The Red Foxes collected 29 of 38 ground balls, which allowed their offense to flourish, putting them in transition and giving them plenty of opportunities to score. Marist outworked their former conference foe and came out victorious, with a final score of 7-4.

There were plenty of reasons to smile for Marist after Saturday's games, but the play of the defense was without question the story of the day. Junior Aedan Herman said "I was very impressed with the play of the defense, they are an experienced group and they showed that today. These games showed how hard they have been working day in and day out in practice." Senior Evan Guarini was also impressed, saying "Those guys really set the tone for us today, and they never stopped working. The entire defense played great, and I was particularly impressed by Craig Goodermote, he came up big for us." Sophomore Goalie Craig Goodermote was praised by a number of his teammates for his work in the net, coming up with big saves when Marist needed them. Overall it was a good day for Marist Lacrosse, senior captain Chris Harren, who scored his first career goal Saturday said "It always a good day when you win two games, but the way we won made it special. We played well top to bottom and everyone contributed, which is exactly what you want from your team at this stage in the year."