May 8, 2009

COLLEGE PARK, MD. - The seventh-seeded Marist water polo team lost in the opening round of the 2009 NCAA women's water polo tournament to the number two-seed Stanford 21-5 on Friday afternoon at the Eppley Recreation Center on the campus of the University of Maryland. Junior Kristen Barnett (Houston, Texas) led the Red Foxes with two goals.

"When you open up with the number two team in the country, you know it will be a tough game", said Marist head coach Ashleigh Jacobs. "Half the battle is getting here. We just got behind real early and had a big mountain to climb."

Marist (18-14) hung with the Cardinal early, keeping them off the scoreboard for the first 1:26 of the game. Stanford got on the board first with a Kelly Eaton goal at the 6:34 mark. Kira Hillman added another goal 29 seconds later to make the score 2-0. The Cardinal scored almost a goal a minute the rest of the quarter to take a 7-0 lead.

Stanford (25-3) scored five more goals in the second quarter before Barnett tallied Marist's first goal of the game with 2:51 remaining before halftime. The Cardinal added four more goals before Barnett tallied her second goal of the game at the 5:23 mark of the third quarter. The Red Foxes then went on a little bit of a run as Angie Rampton (Simi Valley, Calif.) scored with 3:44 remaining in the quarter to follow up Barnett's goal, making the score 16-3. Rosie Pauli (Sacramento, Calif.) also found the back of the net in the third quarter, scoring with 39 seconds left to make the score 17-4. Marist scored its last goal of the game with 6:40 left in the fourth quarter as Colleen Lischwe (Kirkwood, Mo.) scored from about eight meters out to make the score 18-5.

The Red Foxes will take on the loser of the UCLA/Michigan opening round game Saturday at 12:30 p.m. in the consolation semifinals.