Marist School girls scored their highest number of lacrosse goals this season as they defeated Wesleyan School, Norcross, 19-10 on April 7. Before the match, Marist head coach Kelly Mandy was reminiscing about her former attacker and prolific scorer Sascha Brown. On the same day last year, Brown scored four first-half goals, three in the first two minutes of the game, as she helped lead her team to a 20-2 victory over Pace Academy.

“We could use another Sascha Brown,” said Mandy with a smile.

Well, Mandy may have found one in sophomore attacker Maisy Arena, who scored eight of the team’s 19 goals.

“The defense kept jabbing at me with checks, but I felt I could take them,” said Arena. “I hope I can keep it up in the games going forward.”

Challenged by Wesleyan School defenders to no avail, Marist School sophomore attacker Maisy Arena scores one of her five first-half goals. Arena finished with eight goals during the April 7 match, as Marist defeated Wesleyan 19-10. Photo By Michael Alexander

Goal production didn’t start or stop with Arena. Marist junior attacker Bridget Graf punched in the team’s first three goals just two minutes and 18 seconds into the match. Arena scored her first goal and the team’s fourth with 20:54 remaining in the first half. Junior midfielder Mary Heekin added the team’s fifth goal before Wesleyan midfielder Courtney Batchelor scored her team’s first goal.

The teams traded goals and then Arena scored back-to-back goals to give Marist an 8-3 lead. Wesleyan followed that with back-to-back-to-back goals by Courtney O’Leary, Taylor Wesley and Lindsay Moore to pull within two goals. Arena scored two more goals before the end of the first 25-minute half, one an assist from senior attacker Caroline Bagley.

Arena scored her sixth goal a minute and 58 seconds into the second half to put Marist ahead 11-6. The teams continued to exchange goals over the next seven minutes of the match until Graf scored her fourth and final goal to give the team a 13-8 cushion.

During the remaining 10:28 Arena would get her final two goals as additional contributions came from attackers Bagley and Claire Demetree and midfielder Erin Crean. Wesleyan’s Batchelor scored her team’s final goal with 9:20 left in the match. Marist junior goalie Meagan Dunagan also provided 18 saves on defense, eight in the first half and 10 in the second.

Marist (5-7) will face Decatur High School in Decatur April 19.