By Morey Hershgordon
A hot Marist start and timely defense kept the Quinnipiac University men’s lacrosse program from reaching the NCAA Tournament for the first time in program history.
The top-seeded Red Foxes jumped out to a 9-1 lead and exuded poise down the stretch to fend off the upset-minded Bobcats, 16-14, in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Championship Game at Tenney Stadium in Poughkeepsie, New York.
“They wanted it a little more in that first quarter and we were a little slow,” Quinnipiac goalie Jack Brust said. “They were a little more fired up than we were and it took us kicking ourselves in the butt to get that fire going for us.”
But once the tempo picked up, Quinnipiac looked like the undefeated team it had been throughout the month of April.
The Bobcats would go on to outscore the Red Foxes 7-4 in the second frame. During that stretch, they tallied four consecutive goals to build momentum heading into halftime.
At the break, Fekete was sure his team would continue its stellar play. “I said ‘We just have to stick to what we do and not worry about what they’re doing.’”
The teams played an even third quarter for 14:51, but Brust, like he had done all afternoon, stepped up for his team when they needed him the most. Marist broke down the Quinnipiac defense and had a wide-open opportunity to score from the point. Brust had other ideas. An outstanding, back-handed save with nine seconds left, one of the 19 career-high saves for the redshirt-sophomore, kept the deficit at a manageable four goals.
However, instead of holding onto the ball, the net minder hit Carmen French who ran the length of the field to find teammate Michael Sagl who found the back of the net with one second left. At the end of three quarters, Marist’s lead was just three.
“We’ve been a second half team for the last month,” Fekete said. “I was pretty confident at that point.”
Marist and Quinnipiac traded goals in the first five minutes of the fourth quarter before the gravity of the game began to set in. Both offenses stalled before the Bobcats scored with only 1:31 to play. The two-goal deficit was the closest they had been since they trailed 2-1 early in the first quarter.
Quinnipiac had one last chance, but it was unable to execute out of a timeout with 38 seconds left. The Red Foxes completed a perfect 8-0 MAAC slate to advance to its first NCAA Tournament since 2005.
“The disappointment in losing this game is not necessarily relative to not winning the championship,” Fekete said. “I love this team a lot. I love the seniors. Many of them have been on the field since they got in the door here as freshmen.”
Sagl, who finished his career atop many statistical categories, described his time in Hamden with one word.
“Family,” he said. “I love these guys. They’re brothers to me. And if I could, I would do it all over again.”
Brust kept it simple. “The best leaders I’ve ever been apart of.”
