VMI water polo finished the season second in the conference, falling by three to Marist in the first Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Championship game in program history May 2. The team was led by first-year coach Danielle Montenegro.—VMI Photo by H. Lockwood McLaughlin.
The VMI women’s water polo team trailed by just one goal with three minutes to play, but Marist College defeated the Keydets 13-10 to win the game and the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference title in its home pool May 2.
The Red Foxes led 10-6 midway through the third period, but there was no quit in the Keydets, playing in their first MAAC Championship game in program history. Genevieve Petrassi ’22 and McKenna Imset ’21 each scored for VMI before the end of the third to cut the lead to two.
The Red Foxes scored the first goal of the fourth, but VMI countered with tallies from Caragh Osbourne ’24 and Imset with 3:06 on the game clock to make it 11-10. Marist was awarded a penalty shot at 2:54 and converted and added an insurance goal with just over a minute to play.
Petrassi led VMI with a hat trick, and Imset scored twice and drew two exclusions. Makenna Moore ’22 and Sydney Shettleroe ’23 each had a goal and two assists, while Rachel Ahumada ’24, Kiara Anguiano ’22, and Osborne all scored once. Maddie Berry ’22 had two assists, and Katie Lloyd ’23 made six stops in net.
Marist converted on seven of 13 power play attempts and both penalty shots. VMI scored on four of seven power plays and was not awarded a penalty shot.
Myriam Lizotte scored four times for Marist (8-2) with one assist. Marina Hyham made nine saves.
After the game, the All-Championship Team and Most Valuable Player were announced. Viktoria Orlova of Marist was named the championship’s Most Valuable Player; she finished the tournament with five goals in her two games. Joining Orlova on the All-Championship Team were Marist’s Shinae Carrington, Lizotte, and Justine Castro; from VMI were Imset and Petrassi; and from La Salle was Madison Martinez.
VMI ended the 2021 season 6-12 overall but fell seven times by four goals or less. The team finished second in the conference, led by Danielle Montenegro, first-year coach.
Editor’s Note: This article was first published at vmikeydets.com.
