POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. - Head Coach Ashleigh Huckins and the Marist water polo team have announced the release of the Red Foxes' 2013 schedule. The slate is highlighted by three home dates and the return of the MAAC Championships to McCann Natatorium for a 10th consecutive year.
The season opens the weekend of Feb. 9-10 as the Red Foxes travel out to the west coast for the Triton Invite, hosted by UC-San Diego. Marist's opponents have not yet been determined as the tournament bracket is based on national rankings, which have yet to be released.
Marist returns to the east coast to play in two tournaments over the next three weekends starting with the Bison Invite at Bucknell on Feb. 16-17. The Red Foxes will then host their own tournament, the Marist Invite, on the weekend of March 2-3 in the McCann Natatorium.
On Saturday, March 9, the Red Foxes will make the short trip to Hartwick College in Oneonta, N.Y. Marist will square off in a neutral game against Gannon before playing the host Hawks. Last season Hartwick defeated Marist twice and finished the season ranked 17th in the country.
The Red Foxes head back to the west coast for their spring break trip, starting with the Lancer Invite, hosted by Cal Baptist University on the weekend of March 15-16. On Friday, March 15, Marist will play the host Cal Baptist, who were ranked 19th at the end of last season, and George Washington. The next day, they will take on Redlands University and Azusa Pacific.
The following day, Marist will travel the short distance up the coast to play two games at UC-Santa Barbara. There they will take on the Gauchos, who finished 2012 as the #16 team in the country, as well as CSU-Bakersfield. After taking Monday off, The Red Foxes will return to the pool on Tuesday, March 19 for a pair of games at CSU-Northridge, who finished last season ranked 18th nationally. They will conclude their trip with two games on Wednesday with games against Claremont and Pomona-Pitzer.
Conference play opens on Saturday, March 23 as Marist will play its first two games against Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) opponents St. Francis (N.Y.) and VMI. Both games will be played at VMI.
A week later, the Red Foxes will face their biggest single day test when they travel for a pair of games at Villanova. They will first take on two-time defending MAAC champion Iona before playing Wagner, who has been the runner-up each of the past two years after defeating Marist both times in the semifinals. Last year, Marist split with both teams in their regular season matchups.
April opens with the Red Foxes hosting round robin play on Saturday, April 6. Marist will play Siena and Iona in their two games that day. The following day, the Red Foxe will travel to Iona to take on St. Francis (N.Y.) before the second matchup of the season with the Gaels.
The final weekend of the regular season will see the Red Foxes playing VMI and Siena on Saturday, April 13 at St. Francis before closing the season at Wagner on Sunday, April 14, with games against Villanova and the Seahawks.
The Red Foxes will once again be hosting the MAAC Championships on the final weekend of April. The two semifinals will be played on Saturday, April 28 followed by the consolation and championship games on Sunday.
Marist is coming off a 2012 season that saw the Red Foxes finish at .500 with a 19-19 overall record. They were 10-2 in the MAAC, earning them the second seed in the MAAC tournament.
Become a fan of Marist Athletics on Facebook at
Facebook.com/GoRedFoxes and follow us on Twitter
@MaristAthletics.
