PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Junior goalkeeper Lauren Burns (Long Grove, Ill.) made 10 saves, and freshman Dagmara Czajka (San Diego, Calif.) tallied four points on two goals and two assists as Brown University women’s water polo defeated No. 22-ranked Marist College, 6-4, at the Katherine Moran Coleman Aquatics Center.
Competing in their regular season finale on Senior Day, the Bears scored twice inside of the final three minutes to break a 4-4 tie and limited the nationally ranked Red Foxes to just two goals in each half en route to the win.
“This was a very well-played defensive game by both teams, and I have a lot of respect for Chris Vidale and his program,” said Brown head coach Felix Mercado. “We made plays at important moments to win this one, and it was great to send out our seniors with a win in their final regular season home game. Now we’ll start getting ready for Harvard, who we’ll see in the first round of the conference tournament on Friday.”
Czajka paced the Bears with her two goals and two assists alongside two steals and four field blocks. Fellow freshman Katie Klein (Lafayette, Calif.) tallied a goal, an assist, and three steals. Both Czajka and Klein converted a five-meter penalty shot in the game.
Junior Lexi Atwell (La Jolla, Calif.) notched a goal and two steals, sophomore Carissa Perez (Pico Rivera, Calif.) compiled a goal and a steal, and sophomore Kaitlyn Cook (Los Gatos, Calif.) netted the eventual game-winning goal with 2:55 to play. Freshman Lili Akin (Santa Barbara, Calif.) drew a team-high four ejections.
In the cage, Burns totaled her ninth double-figure save performance of the season, making four stops in the third quarter and turning aside a five-meter penalty shot as part of the effort.
Prior to the game, Brown recognized the members of its senior class – Audrey Flower (Portola Valley, Calif.), Maigrie McDougal (Sacramento, Calif.), McKenna Miller (Danvillle, Calif.), Carmen Rosas (Schaumburg, Ill.), Allison Woo (Arcadia, Calif.) and Tiffany Zhao (Beaverton, Ore.) – for their hard work and dedication to the program.
After Marist opened the game with a 1-0 lead, the Bears scored twice inside of the final 76 seconds of the first quarter to take a 2-1 edge at the end of one. Czajka started the scoring with a five-meter penalty goal off a penalty drawn by Perez before Atwell found the back from the left wing off a feed from McDougal.
The Bears held the Red Foxes scoreless for a 12:59 stretch spanning the first and second quarters prior to Marist scoring with 31 seconds left in the second quarter to knot the score at 2-2 at halftime.
Brown blanked Marist, 2-0, in the third quarter to pull ahead 4-2 heading to the fourth frame. Burns set the tone with a five-meter penalty save less than a minute into the stanza. Perez followed with a six-on-five goal from the right wing at the 3:43 mark before Czajka scored on another power play with a skip shot off an assist from Klein with 1:36 left in the quarter.
Following a pair of Marist goals that evened the score at 4-4 with 5:38 remaining, Cook scored off a pass from Czajka on a 6-on-5 play to push Brown ahead 5-4 with 2:55 to go. After McDougal drew a 5-meter penalty with 1:32 to play, Klein converted the ensuing shot to give the Bears their 6-4 margin.
Brown reversed the outcome of its previous meeting with Marist this season as the Bears fell to the Red Foxes, 7-4, on February 2.
Release courtesy Brown University Athletics Communications
